It can’t be stressed enough how important it has been that Arizona Cardinals quarterback Kyler Murray was on the field for the team’s entire offseason program that ended last Tuesday (June 11).
As second-year wide receiver Michael Wilson noted, “It’s been night and day from last year. He’s definitely the leader of this team and the one that makes this engine go. So to have your leader out there makes the world of a difference.”
That’s translated to numerous throwing sessions with the team’s receivers on weekends at local high schools during the offseason.
Wilson said, “The thing that I’m most excited for and most proud about was continuing to build my rapport with Kyler. I think that’s been amazing to do. We’ve been throwing every single weekend.”
Murray made a recent comment about sometimes texting Wilson at 3 a.m. Asked about that comment, Wilson said, “I told him, ‘I’m here for you. I wanna help turn this thing around and build this thing around you’ and so I’ll make myself available and I’ll put everything off to the side unless it’s something major to prioritize my relationship with him.
“He’d text me, ‘Mike, you here?’ Yeah, I’m here. ‘Let’s go.’ Sometimes he’d text me 8 o’clock the night before. ‘You want to go out tomorrow at 10?’ I’m like, ‘Shoot, man, you just let me know.’ Stayed here pretty much every single weekend throughout this whole OTAs specifically so I could train with K1.”
He added, “Pretty much every receiver has been out there consistently.”
Between now and training camp, there will be more workouts although Wilson said the specifics aren’t known yet.
Wilson and Murray had no time on the field together last year until October and then Wilson missed three games after Murray made his first start. However, things started to click during the final two games of the season, especially in the finale against the Seahawks.
As for how that helped continue the building process this offseason, Wilson said, “It really was just objective feedback. Confirming to myself and I think to Kyler what our relationship when it’s clicking can look like. That’s sort of the standard that I expect from myself and I think he obviously expects that from himself, too. I think we were 6-for-6; I think I had 95 yards. (He was exact with the targets, receptions and yards in the Seattle game.)
“That’s hopefully what I anticipate to be a game that’s very frequent and regularly occurring this year.”
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