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Kyler Murray: 'You Just Didn't Know Which Team You Were Getting'

Quarterback talks disappointing season, baseball, video games

Quarterback Kyler Murray is hoping the Cardinals can have much more consistency in 2021.
Quarterback Kyler Murray is hoping the Cardinals can have much more consistency in 2021.

Kyler Murray couldn't argue with the idea the Cardinals were a mystery team in 2020.

"It was like, you just didn't know which team you were getting," the Cardinals quarterback said Monday during an appearance on the “Pat McAfee Show,” part of a car wash of interviews Murray was doing for Super Bowl week.

"That comes down to us being inconsistent," Murray added. "For me, it starts with the little things, and I have said it before, organizations that win, they do everything right. They do everything the right way. Attention to detail, the small things. I've said, how you do anything is how you do everything.

"We've got to get to the point where we do everything the right way, we don't take any stuff for granted. I think that'll change the narrative or feel around the organization. The Cardinals, we haven't really won a lot as far as an organization."

Murray reiterated he had a "transformation" from the end of his rookie season into his second year, and that showed on the field – at least most of the time. While Murray did lose two more fumbles in 2020 than 2019, he improved in every other category: completion percentage, yards, yards per pass, touchdown passes, rushing yards, sacks per attempt.

He also said he has "definitely seen the growth" in coach Kliff Kingsbury.

"That first year I think we both had to get used to the league," Murray said. "It's the highest level, it's the elite of the elite, everyone is good, and it took a second. But I think Year 2, we came out, we made strides, we showed flashes, and now it's about putting it together each and every week."

Murray, talking about his past baseball life after once being a top 10 pick of the Oakland A's, said the "hardest decision of his life" was picking the NFL after signing with the A's, mostly because he was going back on his word.

But he said his love for baseball hasn't faded – "It wasn't like, I have to turn it off to be elite at football. I've been doing it my whole life" – and as he had done in the past, talked about the idea of playing both pro football and pro baseball someday.

"I would love to," Murray said. "I think that'd be good for everybody." Although he acknowledged "it's tough because I play quarterback."

Murray also talked about his love for video games, including Call of Duty, Fortnite, NBA2K and the Madden football franchise – on which he played the virtual Pro Bowl Sunday, leading the NFC team to a win with his quarter on the controls and ultimately being named MVP of the event.

"I tell people if I didn't play professional sports, I would dead-ass be a professional gamer," Murray said.

But Murray isn't playing video games for a living, nor is he making plans for baseball. He's readying for a better finish to his NFL season.

"We started off pretty hot and we took a kind of a disappointing turn, ended up not making the playoffs. Which was very disappointing," Murray said. "I expect it to be a lot better in Year 3."

There was no Pro Bowl this season due to COVID-19, but here is a look at QB Kyler Murray receiving his threads.

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