GLENDALE — Put down the pencils, class, and stop writing your jokes.
Kyler Murray took charge on Thursday afternoon, pointing out that a clause in his contract about a study requirement per work week is not indicative of his work ethic. But that unusual clause was in his contract, reportedly at the behest of Cardinals owner Michael Bidwill.
At least, it was until Thursday evening, when it was removed from the franchise-topping contract that could amount to $230.5 million by 2028.
Now the question is if this fiasco is in the past and if Murray and his bosses are over whatever weird negotiating led to that clause existing in the first place.
As far as your jokes, it’s doubtful this ends here.
But as far as the Cardinals being all good? Head coach Kliff Kingsbury believes it is.
He was asked if Murray, who started this summer by scrubbing his Instagram account, is in a good place with the parties involved in the contract writing. You know, the people in charge, Bidwill likely included, who tried to end this by scrubbing a portion of the quarterback’s contract language.
“I think that’s a Kyler question,” Kingsbury said Friday. “But like I said, what I’ve seen from him and the appreciation he’s shown for this organization, the commitment they made, what he knows he has to do for this place, I think that’s been defined.”
That would be defined as the franchise quarterback, the guy who can call his own press conferences and command a room and have big-time discussions about football decisions with his bosses.
Not the young kid who needs a slap on the wrist by the helicopter parent if he doesn’t do his four hours of homework.
“I’ve seen a lot of growth and maturity from when he started to where he is now,” Kingsbury said of how Murray spoke a day prior.
“Our interactions, it’s like man-to-man. From what I saw he did a tremendous job of being who he is and making his point heard. … I thought he handled himself really well.”
Hollywood hangup
The debut of Marquise Brown in a Cardinals uniform for practices during training camp is in sight.
Kingsbury said he hopes for Brown to be pulled off the non-football injury list (hamstring issue) sometime next week.
The Cardinals traded their first-round pick (23rd overall) to acquire Murray’s college teammate from the Baltimore Ravens on draft night.
In the spotlight
While the ongoings for the majority of practice is in essence closed to reporters, Kingsbury did give one update about who is standing out from the first three days, which were not in full pads.
“It’s good to see Isaiah Simmons make a big play on defense,” the coach said. “I mean, he has that ability to make those impact plays each and every day. The more confidence he can build in his role, the better off we’ll be.”
Quotable
The unsurprisingly confident outside linebacker Markus Golden on how he’ll deal with more attention from opposing offensive lines with Chandler Jones leaving for the Las Vegas Raiders in the offseason:
“I’m used to getting chipped. I’m used to fighting through three, four guys to get to the quarterback. I’m used to it, man. Of course you’re going to miss Chandler. That (is) one of the best pass-rushers to ever play the game. At the end of the day, you got to go hunting no matter what.”