The Arizona Cardinals will not open quarterback Kyler Murray’s 21-day practice window this week despite the signal-caller being eligible to come off injured reserve.
Head coach Jonathan Gannon said on Monday that Murray is “not quite there yet” with his foot sprain recovery.
Gannon explained that Murray has been able to do more than he had when he landed on IR, but the team is taking it day-by-day entering Week 14.
“My understanding is it’s a little early maybe for Kyler Murray. Thought he’d be fully healthy by now. Not quite yet,” NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport reported Sunday. “Certainly seems like it’s going to be Jacoby Brissett for at least another week and potentially more.”
Murray suffered the foot injury in Arizona’s 22-21 loss to the Tennessee Titans in Week 5. He missed the next three games before being placed on IR following the Cardinals’ Monday Night Football win over the Dallas Cowboys.
“This pivot, I would say, is completely predicated on the information that we have now and his health,” Gannon said of the IR decision on Nov. 5. “He’s got to fully focus on getting healthy. He’s in a good spot and ready to do that.”
With Murray out, Arizona’s offense has taken a slight step forward under Brissett, statistically. Following Arizona’s loss to Tampa Bay on Sunday, the Cardinals are still seeing a jump in points (23.1) after scoring 20.6 across Murray’s five starts.
Brissett is also getting it done through the air following Arizona’s lean into more of the passing game. Through seven starts, Brissett has completed 67.7% of his throws for 2,188 yards and 13 touchdowns to four interceptions.
That’s despite playing behind an offensive line that’s given up 26 sacks and a ton of QB hits during that span and an inefficient run game that’s been impacted by injury.
The wins, however, continue to remain far and few between, with Brissett 1-6 across six starts. Murray went down with a 2-3 mark.
