As Marvin Harrison Jr. stood in front of his locker one final time for the 2025 season, his body having betrayed him down the stretch, the wide receiver tried to succinctly sum up his second NFL year.
"It was an incomplete season for me, really," he said.
That's far from what Harrison – and the Cardinals, for that matter – was expecting when the year began. Harrison put on 11 pounds of muscle, he had the foundation of what he learned as a rookie, and the Cardinals as a team were in a good spot.
The wins didn't come however, and neither did the Harrison jump. He had moments when his inconsistency seemed to weigh on him, moments when he seemed he was breaking out to a new level. Then came the injuries: a concussion, the surprise appendicitis, and then heel problems on both feet.
He played 11 games, but four of those were impacted by injury issues. He ended up with 41 receptions for 608 yards and four touchdowns, behind the stellar years of tight end Trey McBride and fellow wideout Michael Wilson.
"It's been a mental battle," Harrison said.
Despite all that, wide receivers coach Drew Terrell noted in December Harrison had made significant progress in his NFL game.
"There were a lot of things he had to learn, he had to adapt his way of thinking," Terrell said. "I've seen the biggest change from him is probably his mindset and how he thinks about football, which has been good.
"He's playing a more free style of football."
The appendicitis derailed Harrison harsher than just the two games he missed. He lost 10 pounds, or nearly all the muscle he had gained in his grind-it-out offseason. He didn't do much over those two weeks and tried to jump right back in.
In his first game back, he hurt his heel.
Wilson's ascension ran a parallel track to Harrison's body breakdown, with Wilson moving to WR1 and excelling. That at least gave Harrison a vicarious thrill.
"I know Mike's process more than most and he definitely deserved all the credit he is getting," he said. "Kept putting good things on tape, approached the game the right way, and I couldn't be more proud of Mike and what he accomplished. He deserves it."
Whatever the Cardinals get in a new coach and whatever offense they might run next season, the new staff will at least start with two pass catchers coming off huge years and a third – Harrison – who still very much has that potential.
"I didn't feel like I played the whole season," Harrison said. "That's part of the league, and you have to be consistent."
As Harrison wrapped up his media scrum, he was given another chance to describe the season.
"Unfortunate," he said. "Unfortunate."
