Arizona Cardinals quarterback Kyler Murray is expected to return from injured reserve sometime later this season, general manager Monti Ossenfort told Arizona Sports’ Wolf & Luke on Friday.

Murray has not played since suffering a foot injury in Week 5, and the organization’s decision to place him on injured reserve this week will keep him ineligible to return for at least the next four games.

Jacoby Brissett has played well in his absence, spurring questions of whether or not Murray has started his last game for Arizona.

“ Kyler right now is in the building, he’s working hard, he’s doing everything he can to get himself healthy,” Ossenfort said. “That’s where his focus is, and we’re gonna do everything we can to get him in a good spot to help us out come later in the season once he’s completely healthy.”

On whether Murray would slot back in as the starting quarterback, Ossenfort was less committal.

“When we put a guy on IR, that’s four weeks away,” Ossenfort said. “A lot of things can happen between now and then. I think Jacoby has done a great job of leading our offense. We’re expecting more of the same moving forward. But Jacoby’s put himself in a good spot for where we’re going offensively. When Kyler gets healthy … we’ll assess when we get to that point.”

The Cardinals have nine games left. They trail the NFC West lead by three games and the final wild card spot by two games. Murray’s last start was on Oct. 5, so he will go more than two months between games once eligible to return.

He could make that return, at the earliest, on Dec. 7 against the Los Angeles Rams. There will be five games left in the regular season at that point. Regardless of whether Murray is healthy and regardless of Brissett’s play, where the Cardinals are in the standings could play a role in whether Murray steps back onto the field.

Murray has been Arizona’s starting quarterback when healthy since Week 1 of his rookie year in 2019. He is due $22.8 million in base salary next season with a $17 million roster bonus and a $53.3 million cap hit. He has a $43.5 million cap hit in 2027 and a club option for 2028.

Brissett, a 32-year-old journeyman backup, is in the first of a two-year deal with a $7.2 million cap hit next year.

The Cardinals have scored 25.7 points per game in Brissett’s three starts, an improvement from 20.6 points per game in Murray’s previous five starts. Brissett has thrown for at least 260 yards with two touchdowns in all three games, with one interception total.

Ossenfort pointed to a better team effort over the recent performances.

“The last few weeks, we found a little bit of a stride,” Ossenfort said. “Jacoby’s been a big part of that. We’ve had other guys step up and fill roles. I think we’ve put guys in good positions to make plays. We’ve been able to do that. And so we’re gonna continue to do that.

“It’s been fun to see, it’s been fun to watch. Jacoby’s a professional. He’s played in the league for a long time. He’s been in this position before. So it’s been fun to see, and hopefully we can keep it going this weekend up in Seattle.”

What happened with the Arizona Cardinals at the trade deadline?

The Cardinals made midseason trades in each of Ossenfort’s first two seasons in charge. They dealt quarterback Joshua Dobbs during the 2023 season ahead of Murray’s return from a torn ACL, and they acquired edge rusher Baron Browning last year.

This year, the Cardinals stood pat at the deadline, entering the day as a last-place team in the NFC West but not out of striking distance at 3-5 and coming off their best win of the season on Monday against the Cowboys.

“With the trade deadline, I mean, there’s always discussions,” Ossenfort said. “There’s discussions for adding players or moving players, and this year was no different. Just wasn’t a situation where anything showed itself that made sense for us to make a transaction.”