Christian Petersen/Getty Images
Kyler Murray continues to progress as he recovers from a torn ACL after returning to practice this week, but the Arizona Cardinals remain tight-lipped about when he might get back on the field.
Appearing on the Wolf and Luke show on Arizona Sports, Cardinals general manager Monti Ossenfort said he “can’t give an exact” timetable when Murray is going to play in games.
Tyler Drake @Tdrake4sports
#AZCardinals GM Monti Ossenfort told @WolfandLuke that QB Kyler Murray made progress this week but “can’t give an exact time of when (a return is) going to be.”
Tyler Drake @Tdrake4sports
“… I can’t give an exact time of when that’s going to be. I know he made progress this week in the few days of practice and we’re going to continue to do that and look forward to having him out there at practice next week.”
After Ossenfort’s comments, Murray was officially ruled out for Sunday’s game against the Seattle Seahawks. The quarterback began this season on the physically unable to perform list. He tore his ACL against the New England Patriots on Dec. 12, 2022.
Even though Murray talked about wanting to be ready for Week 1, it seemed unlikely he would be able to pull that off with just nine months between when he suffered the injury and the start of this season.
NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport reported in January that Murray could miss half of the season because he wanted to “make sure this thing is 100 percent right.”
There was speculation coming into the season that the Cardinals wouldn’t play Murray at all, even if he was healthy, because they wanted to tank in an attempt to land a better pick in the 2024 NFL draft.
Ossenfort dismissed that by telling Wolf and Luke on Sept. 29 the Cardinals “won’t hesitate” to play Murray as soon as he is ready.
The Cardinals announced on Wednesday they opened Murray’s practice window. This gives them 21 days to evaluate where he’s at physically before they have to activate him to the 53-man roster or he will be shut down for the season.
Head coach Jonathan Gannon told reporters after Murray’s first practice it would be an “organizational decision” when he plays in games.
There’s an incentive for both the Cardinals and Murray to get him on the field as long as he’s healthy enough to play.
Arizona can decide to either move forward with Murray as the long-term answer at quarterback or put him on the trade market during the offseason with the hope of getting a significant return.
Murray will want to prove to all 32 teams he can still be a good quarterback going forward coming off a serious knee injury. The two-time Pro Bowler is under contract through the 2028 season. He threw for at least 3,700 yards, 20 touchdowns in each of his first three seasons. He’s also racked up more than 400 rushing in each of his first four seasons.
