Kyler Murray says Cardinals’ tumultuous 2022 season ‘happened for a reason’ and ‘good will come out of’ it

The Arizona Cardinals are a team in transition. They’ve just gone through an offseason where they cleaned house by firing head coach Kliff Kingsbury and watched as general manager Steve Keim stepped down due to health reasons. Now, they’re slated to begin the 2023 season with a first-time head coach (Jonathan Gannon) and GM (Monti Ossenfort). On top of that, their franchise quarterback, Kyler Murray, is recovering from a torn ACL he suffered late last season. 

Murray has largely been silent on the injury, but recently told the organization’s “Flight Plan” podcast that he’s hoping to turn it into something productive. 

“It’s got to be a positive. There really is no option for it to be a negative,” Murray said, via the team’s official website. “I feel you get your little grace period right after it happens, dwell on it, soak in it, let the feelings take over. After that, (expletive), we gotta go. Life doesn’t stop. The job doesn’t stop. And I’m not going to stop.”

Murray, who signed a $230.5 million extension with the organization last offseason, had a tumultuous season even before the injury. There were reports of a rift between him and former head coach Kliff Kingsbury as the club went 3-8 in his starts during which he registered a career-low 87.2 passer rating. While he may be delayed hitting the field in 2023 due to his knee, he does believe he’s “wiser” entering Year 5 and thinks all of the issues the team dealt with last year will be better for it in the long run. 

“The whole (last) year was (expletive),” Murray said. “It happened for a reason. The things we were doing weren’t sustainable for success. It was necessary and in turn good will come out of what happened.”

“I think winning cures all, and it’s been tough to do that with some of the circumstances we’ve had to deal with,” he added. “But I think we are headed in the right direction.”

Those better times may not happen overnight, however, as the team may need to let the Gannon-Ossenfort brain trust marinate and build their foundation. At Caesars Sportsbook, the Cardinals over/under win total is set at 4.5.