The Arizona Cardinals are getting closer to seeing the return of quarterback Kyler Murray.
It could even be as soon as this week.
The Cardinals officially removed Murray from their injury report, while head coach Jonathan Gannon described Murray as being “fully healthy” during his media availability on Friday.
He is again a full participant in practice as he completes his recovery from a torn ACL that ended his 2022 season and has sidelined him through the first seven weeks of the 2023 season. Despite being a full participant in practice and no longer being on the injury report, Gannon was noncommittal to Murray making his season debut this week against the Baltimore Ravens.
All Gannon could say was “We’ll see” when asked if Murray would actually play.
Murray was designated to return from the physically unable to perform list on Oct. 18 meaning the Cardinals have until Nov. 8 to activate him.
In Murray’s absence, the Cardinals have been starting veteran Joshua Dobbs. Dobbs has mostly played well and given the Cardinals a chance to be competitive in most games. Entering the weekend has an 81.8 passer rating with six touchdown passes to only three interceptions. He has also been very effective using his feet with 232 rushing yards and two touchdowns.
At some point, the Cardinals are going to need Murray to play to see what he can do. His career has been defined by inconsistency, especially in recent years, and they need to figure out whether or not he is still their franchise player. He has a major contract, but the current Cardinals front office and coaching staff have no loyalty to him considering they did not draft him or sign him to the contract extension.
Arizona has two first-round picks in the 2024 NFL Draft class — its own and Houston’s pick — and figures to be well-positioned to draft one of the top quarterbacks in the class if needed.