{"id":63692,"date":"2025-05-20T01:13:12","date_gmt":"2025-05-20T01:13:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/63692\/"},"modified":"2025-05-20T01:13:12","modified_gmt":"2025-05-20T01:13:12","slug":"marvin-harrison-jr-getting-on-same-page-with-kyler-murray","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/63692\/","title":{"rendered":"Marvin Harrison Jr. getting on same page with Kyler Murray"},"content":{"rendered":"

TEMPE \u2014 Marvin Harrison Jr. and Kyler Murray showed flashes in their first season together of what the Arizona Cardinals\u2019 offensive pairing can be down the road.<\/p>\n

Now that the 2024 rookie is getting his first full offseason with his quarterback, he\u2019s setting high standards for how they need to operate.<\/p>\n

\u201cObviously, right now everything\u2019s on air, so getting the timing down, being precise in everything that we do,\u201d Harrison said Monday. \u201cI feel like we should be able to go out there with our eyes closed and be able to complete 100% of our passes.\u201d<\/p>\n

Harrison\u2019s rookie season wasn\u2019t poor so much as it fell short of lofty expectations set by the receiver\u2019s outstanding college career and status as the fourth overall pick. He finished the campaign with 885 yards and eight touchdowns across 62 catches.<\/p>\n

The connection with Murray, however, left something to be desired, as his catch percentage of 53.4 (62 catches out of 116 targets) ranked last among the seven first-round wide receivers in 2024.<\/p>\n

Murray told the\u00a0Cardinals Corner\u00a0podcast<\/a> in April\u00a0he saw night-and-day growth in how the two communicated from the beginning to the end of the season, which gave him optimism for how it would work going forward.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s been great, honestly. Obviously, there\u2019s the on-the-field side, but there\u2019s (the) off-the-field side that a lot of people don\u2019t see,\u201d Harrison said Monday<\/a>. \u201cHe\u2019s just a great guy to be around. And then he just definitely knows when to put the serious switch on and when it\u2019s time to go to work.\u201d<\/p>\n

The work in building that connection translated to a different kind of field on Saturday when the two held down the middle infield together in Murray\u2019s celebrity softball game for charity.<\/p>\n

k1 and mhj make a mean middle infield pairing <\/p>\n

building up and fortifying that connection this offseason pic.twitter.com\/1eCfBcVfDr<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Damon Allred (@iamdamonallred) May 18, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n

Harrison was back to training at the team facility as soon as the season ended, and living in the warm weather year-round enables him to do so, he added.<\/p>\n

How else could Year 2 look different for Marvin Harrison Jr.?<\/p>\n

Harrison appears to be heading into his second season much bigger than his 6-foot-4, 215-pound listing as a rookie.<\/p>\n

\u201cI feel the same, honestly,\u201d Harrison said of whether he needs to feel out the new weight, noting there\u2019s a health aspect to factor in. \u201cYou don\u2019t want to put on too much weight and then your body may not be used to it \u2026 but I feel exactly the same as I did before.\u201d<\/p>\n

As of Monday, Harrison didn\u2019t have a specific number for how much weight he\u2019s added \u2014 or what he\u2019d like to play at \u2014 and he doesn\u2019t have to weigh in until training camp. That\u2019s when he and the team will settle on a number they\u2019d like him at and adjust as necessary.<\/p>\n

The added mass happened naturally, he said. It was partially a product of not eating as much during his three seasons at Ohio State.<\/p>\n

Marvin Harrison Jr.’s on muscle watch. \ud83d\udcaa pic.twitter.com\/uGRVFl1TdL<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Arizona Sports (@AZSports) May 19, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cStarted eating a little bit more and having more free time, I guess,\u201d Harrison said. \u201cBut I\u2019ve been eating all the right things, some extra protein for sure.\u201d<\/p>\n

Biggest indicator of improvement for Harrison?<\/p>\n

Harrison kept the focus on the Cardinals rather than himself when asked what improvement looks like in his second season.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think we got to make the playoffs,\u201d the receiver said. \u201cWe have all the pieces we need. We just got to go out there and execute at this point, and that\u2019s why they brought me here, to help this team win games.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo improvement for me looks like winning more games than we won last year [eight]. \u2026 I want to get a home playoff game for Arizona.\u201d<\/p>\n

The receiver was in a suite when State Farm Stadium held a playoff game between the Los Angeles Rams and Minnesota Vikings due to the Los Angeles fires, and he said it left a sour taste in his mouth.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was just like, there\u2019s a team playing in the playoffs in our building. That just didn\u2019t feel right,\u201d Harrison said.<\/p>\n

A different weird feeling could be on the horizon when Harrison travels to play the Indianapolis Colts on Oct. 12 against the same team his father became a Hall of Famer for.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe had the preseason game last year. I didn\u2019t get a chance to play in that one,\u201d Harrison recalled. \u201cBut I\u2019m sure that\u2019s going to be a special game for me and my family to go back to Indy and play there.\u201d<\/p>\n

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