Arizona Cardinals wide receiver Marvin Harrison Jr. was very deliberate with the way he handled his offseason preparation after his Ohio State career concluded.
Harrison eschewed the combine training most draft-eligible players do so he could focus on simply football and being as ready as possible for a 17-game NFL regular season. He didn’t work out at the combine or Ohio State’s pro day and the Cardinals obviously had no problem with that.
So, it was that some eyebrows were raised this week when Cardinals head coach Jonathan Gannon commented on the additional work Harrison does.
Asked his first impressions of the rookie in the first month of his NFL career, Gannon said, “He’s extremely detailed. He does a lotta extra; probably too much. I’m going to be fighting him about that. But he’s just like everybody else right now, kinda getting out there and he’s gonna make some mistakes and learn from his mistakes and understand the thought process from Drew (offensive coordinator Drew Petzing) and Drew (wide receivers coach/pass game coordinator Drew Terrell), the quarterback perspective, where he needs to be. I like how he’s jumped in and he’s doing a good job.”
When pressed for the reason he has some concern about the extra work, Gannon said, “Because we’re spaced out with how many reps and the amount of workload that he gets and then (if) he goes and runs 100 routes on the weekend, he might be dragging today. Now, he doesn’t drag, but I’m just talking about like, I love extra work; you just gotta be smart about it.
“You just have to have a routine about what you’re doing. You only get one cup a day, so how are you filling your cup? And if you’re overflowing it somewhere, it’s gonna take from somewhere else. Or you might not develop like we want you to develop. But he’s doing a good job with his routine, his plan and what he’s doing.”
Quarterback Kyler Murray was asked Wednesday if he’s noticed anything similar to what Gannon voiced and said, “This is my first time being around him, so I don’t really know what’s too much or what’s not too much. That’s on JG obviously. He doesn’t want him to … you know; we play in September, we don’t play now, so I understand it from that point.”
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