Cardinals quarterback Kyler Murray will return to the starting lineup Sunday against the Falcons, 335 days after tearing the anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee. He underwent surgery on Jan. 3.
Murray’s legs are as important to his game as his right arm, so the question now is: Will his running suffer after reconstructive knee surgery?
Offensive coordinator Drew Petzing isn’t concerned.
“He’s healthy; he’s ready to go; and we will put him in position to be successful,” Petzing said, via Darren Urban of the team website. “That’s always the nature of the franchise quarterback, and you see it around the league when they are very mobile, there is an injury risk associated with that. We have to manage that as all teams with elite quarterbacks do.”
Murray has 381 rushing attempts in his career, with 195 coming on designed runs, 186 on scrambles and the rest on kneel downs, per Pro Football Focus. He has played 3,770 snaps in his career, meaning only 5 percent of the plays he has run in his career are called running plays for him.
Murray will run, and he will get hit.
The Cardinals, though, aren’t going to treat him with kid gloves.
“Anytime he runs and gets tackled, no matter what the situation, from now until the end of time, there is going to be like, ‘Get up. He’s good?’” Petzing said. “Anytime you have a great player in that position, you feel that way to some extent. He’s so dynamic at it. He’s going to get tackled. That’s a fact.”