Kyler Murray lands on IR with foot injury; Jacoby Brissett to start for Cardinals

The Arizona Cardinals will turn to Jacoby Brissett at quarterback this Sunday against the Seattle Seahawks, as Kyler Murray continues to recover from a foot injury suffered in Week 5, coach Jonathan Gannon said Tuesday. Brissett has started the last three games, leading the team to a 27-17 victory over the Dallas Cowboys Monday night, completing 67.7% of his passes for 261 yards and two touchdowns while rushing for another score.

The Cardinals now have Brissett leading the offense on a short week as they travel to Seattle to face a 6-2 Seahawks team coming off a blowout road win over the Washington Commanders. Murray will be out longer than originally anticipated. Multiple doctors have advised that Murray’s foot injury could require 4-8 weeks to fully heal, according to ESPN, and on Wednesday the team placed Murray on injured reserve. 

That ensures Brissett will be Arizona’s starter for the next four weeks in a critical stretch for the Cardinals against quality opponents with the Seahawks, 49ers, Jaguars and Buccaneers on their schedule. Murray being moved to injured reserve will remove the constant questions about when he’ll return, but it also could add to some of the drama around who should start when Murray is cleared to return if Arizona continues to improve with Brissett under center. 

“He’s doing well,” Gannon said of Murray. “He wants to be out there. He’s a competitor. I talked to him today. He’s a good teammate and he’s working to get healthy.”

Murray hasn’t played since Oct. 5. He was limited in practice last week before the team announced on Saturday that Brissett would start. Gannon said last week that Murray could have a role in the Dallas game, but he was later ruled inactive.

Brissett has performed well in Murray’s absence, throwing for 320 yards, two touchdowns and one interception in a narrow Week 6 loss to the Indianapolis Colts, followed by a 279-yard, two-touchdown effort in Week 7 against the Green Bay Packers.

Brissett became the second player in Cardinals franchise history to pass for 250 yards, two touchdowns and rush for a touchdown on “Monday Night Football,” joining Jim Hart in 1974, according to CBS Sports Research. He has played well enough to spark a quarterback controversy.

Following the win in Dallas, reporters asked Gannon if Murray was still his starting quarterback when he returns. 

“Yeah, nothing’s changed on that,” Gannon said. “That’s how I feel.” 

Reporters followed up by questioning if Brissett did well enough to earn deeper opportunity.

“I got nothing to add on that, guys,” Gannon said.

For now, the team will move forward with Brissett, the journeyman backup whose stats compare favorably to Murray, the No. 1 pick in the 2019 draft.

Comparing Jacoby Brissett, Kyler Murray

Yards per attempt

6.0

7.7

Total TDs

7

7

Turnovers

4

2

Passer rating

88.6

102.5

The Cardinals’ weaponry has benefitted from the change under center. Marvin Harrison Jr. caught a career-high seven passes for 96 yards and a touchdown against the Cowboys, while Trey McBride became just the third tight end in NFL history to catch five passes in 10 straight games, joining Travis Kelce and Tony Gonzalez. He caught four touchdowns in three games with Brissett starting, and just one touchdown in five games with Murray.