Arizona Cardinals

Arizona Cardinals quarterback Kyler Murray announced Monday he's now an official partner for the Call of Duty video game franchise ahead of Black Ops 6's release on Oct. 25.

The two-time Pro Bowler credited "the trolls who memed me into a bag."

Murray's dedication—or lack thereof—away from the field was a talking point almost immediately after news of his $230.5 million extension broke in 2022. A reported "homework" clause was briefly included in the deal and it required him to spend a specified amount of time working on his craft away from practice.

Internet sleuths then claimed to find evidence pointing to how the 27-year-old's performance declined during the same weekends when Call of Duty awarded gamers double or triple XP. There was supposedly a similar trend that followed when the newest games in the franchise were released.

Perhaps this will be the ultimate test of the theory because Murray is on pace for a career year.

Through five games, he has thrown for 972 yards, seven touchdowns and two interceptions. His 66.4 QBR ranks sixth in the league, per ESPN.com. He remains an effective runner in his first full season back from a torn ACL as well with 247 yards and one score on the ground.

The Arizona Cardinals may have started the season 1-2, but Kyler Murray sees plenty of reasons for optimism.

After a 20-13 loss to the Detroit Lions last week, Murray expounded on why he believes the team's future is bright thanks to offensive coordinator Drew Petzing.

In his second season as OC with the Cardinals, Petzing's offense has allowed Murray to play more technical and less "off the wall" once the ball is snapped.

"Within this system that we have now I feel like there's a lot of room to grow, and if I can just be myself and play the game. The sky's the limit," Murray told reporters.

Last season, the Cardinals' offense finished fourth in the league in rushing and second in rushing average, marking only the second time since 1970 that the team has had a top-five rushing offense.

This season, Petzing noted that Murray is communicating at the line "at a really high level" while his team is shifting around him.

Murray has completed 69 percent of his passes this season, throwing for 635 yards and five touchdowns over three games.

The Cardinals will look to get back to .500 when they host Jayden Daniels and the Washington Commanders on Sunday.

Larry Fitzgerald likes what he sees from Marvin Harrison Jr.

The Arizona Cardinals legend responded to an X post comparing a touchdown reception from the rookie wide receiver to one in Fitzgerald's career, stating that Harrison's quick adaptation to the NFL paints a bright future.

Fitzgerald acknowledged that it took him some time before he was able to make highlight-reel catches like the one Harrison made.

While Fitzgerald is impressed with Harrison's form, it will take many more of those plays for the Cardinals rookie to live up to the standard Fitzgerald set with the franchise.

He had 1,432 career receptions with 17,492 yards and 121 touchdowns. He was named to 11 Pro Bowls, earned one first-team All-Pro selection and was named to the Hall of Fame's All-2010s team. He will certainly be enshrined in Canton one day, alongside Harrison's father, Marvin Harrison Sr.

It's only been a few games, but 2024's No. 4 overall pick has shown he can occupy the dynamic receiver role the team has missed in recent seasons. In three games, he has made 10 catches for 198 yards and three touchdowns.

This helped Arizona earn a big Week 2 victory over the Los Angeles Rams and hang close with the Buffalo Bills and Detroit Lions. He will hope to continue the strong play and develop a rapport with Kyler Murray that rivals the ones Fitzgerald developed with his Cardinal quarterbacks.

Arizona Cardinals tight end Trey McBride played in each of the first three games of the season, but his status for the Week 4 contest against the Washington Commanders is up in the air because of a head injury.

"Trey is in concussion protocol, so we'll see how he goes throughout the week," head coach Jonathan Gannon told reporters Monday.

McBride suffered the injury from a head-on collision with Detroit Lions safety Brian Branch during the fourth quarter of Sunday's game. Both players remained on the turf in the immediate aftermath and eventually walked off under their own power.

Arizona announced the tight end was being evaluated for a concussion.

He finished the 20-13 loss with three catches for 25 yards, which were both low points of the season. He posted five catches for 30 yards in the Week 1 loss to the Buffalo Bills and six catches for 67 yards in the Week 2 win over the Los Angeles Rams.

It has been a relatively slow start to the season for McBride after his breakout effort in 2023 saw him tally 81 catches for 825 yards and three touchdowns.

He led the Cardinals in catches and receiving yards in 2023, although the passing attack now has rookie Marvin Harrison Jr. as a No. 1 option. Harrison has three touchdowns in the last two games.

If McBride can't go against the Commanders, look for the Cardinals to turn toward Elijah Higgins for more playing time.

Higgins has four catches for 41 yards and one touchdown on the season and figures to be an underneath target for quarterback Kyler Murray if Washington's defense doubles Harrison over the top.

The connection between Arizona Cardinals quarterback Kyler Murray and wide receiver Marvin Harrison Jr. is developing at a rapid pace.

After a quiet Week 1 performance, Harrison exploded in his second professional game, making four catches for 130 yards and two touchdowns. This helped lead Arizona to a 41-10 victory over the Los Angeles Rams.

Murray commented on the chemistry between the duo, saying that they have a similar view of the offense and that their mutual love of the game will help them improve.

"I think we see things the same way," Murray said, per Josh Weinfuss of ESPN. "Obviously, we got to continue to get better together. There's some mishaps there that I think we both feel like we can be better on, especially myself, but personality, man, and just the love for the game. I think those are two components that really allow us to just kind of be seamless."

Harrison shared a similar sentiment and believes his skill set complements Murray's all-around game.

"I think I do a good job of getting myself open when the play breaks down," Harrison said, per Weinfuss. "Obviously, that's one of his best abilities. Obviously, in the pocket, having everything on time, I feel like I'm a pretty good route runner so that I can get open on time and on schedule and we kind of just do our thing from there."

Harrison was the No. 4 pick in the 2024 NFL Draft and is Murray's best receiving option since DeAndre Hopkins departed for free agency in 2023. He had a prolific career at Ohio State, with 2,613 receiving yards and 31 touchdowns, and won the Fred Biletnikoff Award in 2023.

Murray is in his sixth NFL season and will hope to stay healthy after having the last two seasons derailed by a torn ACL. With Murray under center and Harrison in a significant receiving role, Arizona hopes it can rise back towards the top of the NFC West Division and make the playoffs for the first time since 2021.

The Cardinals will hope the connection between the two continues to develop in Week 3 when they face the Detroit Lions.

The Pro Football Hall of Fame is taking Kyler Murray's jersey and a game ball from the Arizona Cardinals' 41-10 win over the Los Angeles Rams in Week 2 to honor the quarterback's performance.

Murray finished with a perfect 158.3 passer rating after throwing for 266 yards and three touchdowns, and he had 59 yards on the ground. The Cincinnati Bengals' Ken Anderson was the only other player ever with a similar stat line.

Murray and rookie wide receiver Marvin Harrison Jr. set a tone early. Arizona's first two drives ended in touchdown catches for the first-round draft pick, which presented a welcome contrast from his forgettable Week 1 showing.

Cardinals fans have eagerly awaited the year when Murray turns the corner and becomes not just a dynamic runner but an elite passer too.

The way in which Arizona stumbled toward the finish line in 2020 and 2021 put a damper on his two Pro Bowl seasons and then he tore his ACL 11 games into the 2022 campaign. The end of last year offered some encouragement as Murray had 724 passing yards and six touchdowns to one interception in his final three starts.

Murray's yards per game have historically peaked in September and fallen over each subsequent month. Because of that, it's fair to remain cautiously optimistic about his big day against the Rams symbolizing anything bigger.

But you can't blame people for seeing the idealized version of the 27-year-old on the field and being hopeful this is when it all finally clicks.

Despite coming off a breakout performance in the second game of his NFL career, Marvin Harrison Jr. still isn't satisfied.

The Arizona Cardinals rookie wide receiver lamented the fact that Kyler Murray's four incompletions all resulted after targeting him during the team's 41-10 win over the Los Angeles Rams on Sunday.

"Not going to lie to you, I think I saw Kyler's stat line," Harrison told reporters after the victory. "He had four incompletions, all were to me. Not very happy about that. Definitely have to get that fixed, but we'll continue to build our chemistry as the season goes on."

The 22-year-old might have been a bit too hard on himself, as he still put together a historic game.

He was able to haul in four catches for 130 yards and two touchdowns, with all of his production occurring in the first quarter. This included a 60-yard score, helping Arizona jump out to an early 14-0 lead.

The No. 4 overall pick in the 2024 NFL draft became just the fourth rookie since 2000 to have 100 receiving yards and two touchdowns in the first quarter of a game (via ESPN's Josh Weinfuss). Harrison bounced back from a disappointing Week 1 performance, recording just one catch for four yards.

Murray also thrived against the Rams, finishing 17-of-21 for 266 yards and three touchdowns without recording a turnover. After sitting at 1-8 through nine weeks in 2023, Arizona is now 1-1.

If Harrison and Murray can continue to build chemistry as the season progresses, the Cardinals may have a chance to secure their first playoff berth since 2021.

After a quiet NFL debut in last week's season opener, Arizona Cardinals rookie wide receiver Marvin Harrison Jr. wasted no time making an impact during Sunday's game against the Los Angeles Rams.

Harrison hauled in two touchdown passes in the first quarter from star quarterback Kyler Murray, who caused a bit of a stir online when he said this week that it was "not my job" to force targets to the 2024 No. 4 pick.

Fans on social media were blown away by Harrison's early production against the Rams on Sunday:

Harrison was limited to one catch for four yards in Arizona's Week 1 loss to the Buffalo Bills. The Ohio State product admitted that he was not pleased with his performance, and he used it as motivation to make a better impression this week.

Harrison ended the first quarter with four catches for 130 yards and two scores. He was targeted five times, while three other players received one target apiece.

As the 22-year-old gets more comfortable in the NFL, he will quickly become Murray's No. 1 option in the passing attack. Harrison's coming out party in the first quarter against the Rams is an indication that the Cardinals have a budding superstar who can take over a game when called upon.

Arizona Cardinals wide receiver Marvin Harrison Jr. offered an honest assessment of his NFL debut in a 34-28 loss to the Buffalo Bills.

"I mean obviously it wasn't great," he told reporters Wednesday. "Definitely wasn't what I expected, what I wanted to happen, what the team wanted to happen. Obviously, you wanted to come out with a victory and we didn't do that."

Harrison was targeted three times and finished with one reception for four yards.

"I got to get open and catch the ball," he said. "That's my job as a receiver. That is your job description. That's what I got to do a better job."

The Bills held Cardinals quarterback Kyler Murray to 162 yards and one touchdown on 21-of-31 passing, so the struggles extended beyond Harrison and covered the entire aerial attack.

It wasn't just the raw production from the No. 4 overall pick that left some fans puzzled, though. He simply didn't look sharp or explosive.

The 22-year-old comes from receiving royalty and looked like a pro-caliber wideout midway through his sophomore season at Ohio State. Many assumed he'd hit the ground running with Arizona.

Harrison could go on to have a big rookie year, but Cardinals fans and fantasy football managers across the country already might be reassessing what they're expecting from him. At the very least, he may be facing a longer adjustment period than first thought.

The Arizona Cardinals used the No. 4 pick of the 2024 draft to select wide receiver Marvin Harrison Jr. and then gave the former Ohio State star just three targets in his NFL debut.

But Cardinals quarterback Kyler Murray said that it was not his job to force targets to Harrison while running offensive coordinator Drew Petzing's system during Sunday's 34-28 loss to the Buffalo Bills.

"As a quarterback, obviously, you're going through your reads," Murray said, per Craig Morgan of PHNX. "Sometimes the ball goes to him, but that's not my job.

"I have a sense and a feel for guys when they don't get the ball and when they are getting the ball, but I leave that up to Drew. He tells me, 'Don't worry about that type of stuff. Just keep playing your game and get the ball to where the ball is supposed to go.'"

Harrison finished his NFL debut with one catch for four yards. Wideout Greg Dortch led the team with six catches, while Trey McBride received the most targets with nine.

Murray meanwhile connected on 21 of 31 passes for 162 yards and a touchdown.

The Cardinals closed out the second quarter on Sunday leading by seven points but were unable to recover from three Bills touchdowns in the second half.

Murray appeared to have Harrison open for a touchdown on the Cardinals' final drive of the game, but he went for a short throw to Dortch instead while under pressure. The Cardinals quarterback said after the loss that he did not see Harrison open on the play.

Petzing, who was hired by the Cardinals in 2023 after three seasons with the Cleveland Browns, told reporters after the loss that "the plan" will be to give Harrison more targets going forward.

"Certainly he is on the forefront of our minds in terms of getting him the ball," Petzing said, Darren Urban reported for the team's website. "I think (the Bills) did some things to take him away and certainly I could've called some plays to get him more involved early but I thought it was a good start. We have some work to do."

Harrison could look to capitalize on more targets from Murray when the Cardinals return to action on Sunday against the Los Angeles Rams.