The No.1 pick from this year’s NFL draft, Kyler Murray had a hard time playing against the Oakland Raiders last night. Jon Gruden and his boys did a lot to stop the youngster, but he too did some things which weren’t appropriate enough, earning two penalties.
The flags were thrown twice during the first quarter because of him, and on both occasions, he made some illegal moves before the snaps. The coordination between the voice and the claps of the hands was a bit wrong, and the referees decided to punish the youngster.
He tried to explain the whole situation after the contest, telling the journalists what officials told him after those penalties.
“Apparently, I was just too abrupt,” Muray said. “You know not smooth enough as far as bringing my hands together goes.”
Regardless of that, coach Kliff Kingsbury isn’t willing to suggest anything new to Murray in his calling routine but instead backs up the rookie. He also revealed that the cadence his starting QB performs is a new thing in the league, which is why it wasn’t looking according to rules to the officials. He told the media following the match, that he and other members of the Cardinals’ organization had a talk with the league officials, and presented this case. He believes that they just needed to be introduced with this innovation.
“I think it’s the first time for certain officials to see it, and we’ve been in contact with the league and had a great conversation on it,” Kingsbury said. “We’re going to work through that and make sure everybody’s on the same page.
It will be exciting to see how the league looks upon this. There are very strict rules regarding these situations. But also, in general, there weren’t many false-start penalties involving one QB. Last year there were 8 of them throughout the entire season, and the previous time one QB had two at the same match was in 2013. That guy was Drew Brees.
Arizona had 14 penalties in the loss against the Oakland Raiders, 33-26. That cost them 108 yards, and this indiscipline has to be eliminated. Murray wasn’t very happy with the way he played this game.
In the end, he had only 3 completed passes in 8 attempts for 12 yards, which is way below the level of expected for him. Whether was that because of the Raiders defense or the fact that he couldn’t use his play-calling the way he wanted, it remains a mystery.
Since he joined the Cardinals and was picked first at the draft, Murray is under constant pressure and on the radar of the public. He is expected to be one of the QBs who will evolve this game, but so far, he didn’t show anything spectacular. Truth to be told, just two games took place.
The next chance to improve this impression will be against the Minnesota Vikings on Saturday 24th. Following that one, they will have a last preseason test against the Broncos on Friday, August 30.
