New Arizona Cardinals Coach Cautiously Ecstatic For Kyler Murray's Rehab Progress

The Arizona Cardinals is in for a tough 2023 NFL season as star quarterback Kyler Murray is not expected to make his return until next season thanks to an ACL injury, but head coach Jonathan Gannon sees big things coming for Murray.

Murray recently posted a video of himself squatting barely three months after surgery and his eagerness to return to the field has been met with a ton of support from Gannon–but also some words of caution.

"He's got competitive juice, so he wants to be doing everything that he can to get out there when he can to help the team win. So, pleased where that's at. I think I told him the other day, 'As good as you feel, there's going to be a little bit of a dip. You've got to make sure you don't overdo it, too,'" Gannon told the media in a press conference.

"That's a part [of] being smart when you rehab from any injury. You want to go, go, go. Sometimes you've got to push the pause button a little bit. But, excited about where he's at and where he's going."

The Cardinals made sure to secure the services of Murray as their franchise quarterback with a five-year, $230.5 million deal in July of last year, with $160 million of it being guaranteed.

To say that Murray had a down year last season is a fair point as he only tallied 14 touchdowns on 66.4 percent of his passes being completed while throwing up seven interceptions.

However, suffering an ACL tear in Week 14 certainly did hamper his ability to add to his totals, but the Cardinals were going nowhere fast at that point as they had a record of 4-9 after the loss to the New England Patriots, with them having four more losses to close out the season.

Arizona's 27-17 victory over the Los Angeles Rams in Week 10 would be the last time they see the win column as they ended their season in disappointment with a seven-game losing streak.

It led to the firing of then-head coach Kliff Kingsbury, finishing off his four-year tenure in Arizona with a record of 28-37-1 with only one playoff appearance to his name.

While seeing Murray's progress should give Cardinals fans enough hope to see him for 2023, a non-contact ACL tear for a dual-threat quarterback like the Oklahoma Sooner suffered against New England might have the franchise be warier.

The Cardinals enter the 2023 NFL draft with the third, 34th, 66th, 96th, 105th, 168th, 180th and 213th overall picks, but there have been reports where they trade the third overall pick to move down in this year's draft.

Whatever Arizona's upper management decides to do with their picks, one thing they can bank on in the future is Murray being back on the field–whether this season or in 2024.