Since the first day he walked into the building as the fourth overall pick by the Arizona Cardinals in this year’s draft, wide receiver Marvin Harrison Jr. has been everything the team wanted and more.
It went beyond the obvious ability he possesses. What most impressed everyone from coaches to players was his work ethic, putting his nose to the grindstone and focusing on getting better each day.
As safety Budda Baker said during the summer, “Great kid, hard worker. That’s how it is as a rookie. You come in, you want to learn from older guys, but you also want to kind of just grind. And I see him doing that.”
Offensive coordinator Drew Petzing said, “You don’t have to push him to work, to study, to prepare. That’s part of who he is. It’s like he’s been here for years.”
Harrison said about outside expectations, “When I got here, JG (head coach Jonathan Gannon) told me, ‘Just be you.’ I have expectations for myself. I doubt anyone’s expectations for me are bigger than what I have for myself.”
Asked just prior to the season starting about Harrison’s football IQ and approach, Gannon said, “I would say that’s what I’ve been most impressed about is what he does off the field. How he prepares, how he gets ready to play, the extra time that he puts in. He is a very mature, serious person. Which again, we kind of knew that when we drafted him, but that’s come to fruition. I’m excited to see him play. He’s ready to go.”
Of course, what happened next was a season-opening game in which had one catch for four yards, a drop and only three targets in a 34-28 loss.
Still, three days after the game, he talked about thinking too much and finding a way to play better.
What followed was an electric first quarter that included four receptions for 130 yards and two touchdowns from quarterback Kyler Murray as the Cardinals built a lead and continued to add to it, eventually beating the Los Angeles Rams, 41-10.
After the first score, virtually every member of the offense ran to the end zone or caught Harrison coming toward the sideline and engulfed him with hugs and slaps on the back.
When asked how happy the offense was for the rookie, running back James Conner said Monday, “It was awesome. Happy for Marv. He works extremely hard. Obviously, we know how talented he is. He popped out for sure. Making the miraculous (catch) for the first one and first play we go back on offense he takes it to the house. That’s why we got him. Doing his thing.”
Still, what stood out was something he said while answering the first question to him after the game. Asked how he thought the game went for him, the humble Harrison said, “It was solid. I think the offense played a good game. We definitely executed in the run game and pass game as well. But I’m not going to lie to you. I saw Kyler’s stat line. He had four incompletions, all of them were to me.
“I’m not very happy about that. I definitely have to get that fixed, but we’ll continue to build our chemistry as the season goes on.”
Gannon said Monday about those comments, “He knew he left some meat on the bone. That was one of the things we talked about (in our team meeting) today and how do we get that better. Some of those plays we have to make sure we’re doing a good job, but he’s a very self-aware person. He’s very smart, he’s consistent, self-aware and he knows he’s got stuff he needs to improve on.”
“It speaks to what we want to be as a team,” Petzing said. “It’s we’re never going to be satisfied. Hey, we had a good game, we won the game, we have a lot of things we still need to clean up and be better about. That was true after the loss to Buffalo. It was true after the win last Sunday. I think that’s always gotta be our mindset; is take a look at it.
“What do we do well? Let’s continue to do it. What do we need to improve on? How do we get there? And I think if you can take that approach, you got a chance to be the best version of yourself as a player. And the best version of yourself as an offense.”
Finally, when Harrison’s words were mentioned to Conner, he concluded, “That’s how you know he’s somebody who wants to be great, who’s never satisfied, who can make all the plays, but still looks at the plays that were left out (on the field). That’s the difference.
“That’s who Marv is. That’s how he handles his business day in and day out. He wants to make the most of every opportunity, so he’s just never satisfied.”
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