Tag: Byron Murphy

Kliff Kingsbury gives injury updates about Rodney Hudson, others

There wasn’t much new information about the injured Arizona Cardinals players.

The Arizona Cardinals enter Week 6 with questions about several players and their injury status. Head coach Kliff Kingsbury addressed the media Monday afternoon and gave updates about some of those players.

Check out what he had to say.

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Why the Arizona Cardinals’ defense is the secret to their 4-0 start

The Cardinals’ offense is the talk of the league, but don’t overlook the impact of Vance Joseph’s defense on the NFL’s final unbeaten team.

Going into their Week 4 matchup with the Rams at SoFi Stadium, the Cardinals knew exactly what they were up against. Arizona hadn’t beaten their NFC West rivals since Week 17 of the 2016 season, when Bruce Arians was their head coach, and current Cardinals head coach Kliff Kingsbury was coaching some guy named Patrick Mahomes at Texas Tech. And this wasn’t your daddy’s Rams with Jared Goff at quarterback — the Rams, of course, weaponized Sean McVay’s passing game with the offseason trade for Matthew Stafford, and that had already provided a massive difference in that offense. Kingsbury’s offense is up to the challenge against any opponent with Kyler Murray in charge, but if the Cardinals were to get off this epic schneid, their defense would have to step up something fierce.

It’s an underrated defense that has the Cardinals as the NFL’s last undefeated team, a title they held after a 37-20 win in which Stafford was limited to 26 completions in 41 attempts for 280 yards, two touchdowns, one interception, and a passer rating of 89.5 — by far his worst this season to date. It’s an underrated defense because in 2020, the Cardinals ranked 10th in Defensive DVOA, but there wasn’t the kind of lockdown, coordinated defense you can count on from week to week. Multiplicity had players at loose ends at times, and though defensive coordinator Vance Joseph certainly knows what he’s doing, it didn’t always show up on the field.

This year is very different. The Cardinals rank sixth in Defensive DVOA, and third against the pass, behind only the Bills and Patriots. They rank sixth in the NFL in third-down conversion rate allowed, up from 12th in 2020, and while they’ll give up the occasional touchdown in coverage, when you’re averaging a league-high 35 points per game, giving up 21.3 points per game, ninth-best in the NFL, makes the math work just fine.

When a defense moves from situation-neutral at best to an absolute reason a team is undefeated through four games, it’s a good time to look at how it was contracted, and why everything is working so well. In the case of the Cardinals, it’s a lot of moving parts coming together at the perfect time — coaches matching scheme to personnel, young players jumping several floors in their development, and smart veteran additions to the mix.

CB Byron Murphy day-to-day, DT Jordan Phillips week-to-week

It does not sound like Jordan Phillips will not be returning this week. It appears Murphy will be fine for Week 5.

Arizona Cardinals head coach Kliff Kingsbury gave a couple of injury updates when he addressed the media Monday afternoon. One is about cornerback Byron Murphy and the other was about defensive tackle Jordan Phillips, currently on injured reserve.

Phillips was placed on injured reserve in Week 1 and is eligible to return, having missed more than three games. The team has not indicated what his injury is.

Where is he at? Could he be designated for return?

“He’s progressing,” Kingsbury said. “I would say week-to-week at this point, but he has definitely made progress and we’ll continue to evaluate him this week and see where it stands.”

It sounds like it won’t be happening this week.

Murphy suffered a rib injury in the first half of the Cardinals’ 37-20 win over the Los Angeles Rams. He returned but he did not play as many snaps as he normally would.

“He will be day-to-day,” Kingsbury said Monday. “We’ll see how it progresses (Tuesday). If he can go in on Wednesday, he’ll go in, and if not, we’ll take another day. It’s pretty much day-to-day.”

Murphy said after the game that he would be fine. He will likely be at least limited for part of the week but will certainly be on the field when they take on the San Francisco 49ers.

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CB Byron Murphy is Cardinals’ 3rd straight NFC player of the week

Cardinals CB Byron Murphy is named NFC Defensive Player of the Week after picking off two passes and returning one for a TD in Jacksonville.

The Arizona Cardinals have played three games this season and, for the third week in a row, has a different conference player of the week. This week it is cornerback Byron Murphy.

Murphy is the NFC Defensive Player of the Week after his performance against the Jacksonville Jaguars.

It is the first time he was earned player of the week honors.

He had four tackles two interceptions, two passes defensed and returned the second interception for a touchdown. That touchdown gave the Cardinals the lead in the second half.

It was the first time in his career that he had multiple interceptions in a game and it was also his first NFL touchdown. Cardinals needed them both.

His first interception came in the red zone and the second, when he returned it for a touchdown, was the go-ahead score in their win.

After Chandler Jones earned defensive honors after Week 1 and Kyler Murray earned offensive honors in Week 2, this is the fifth time in team history that the team has had three consecutive players of the week. It is the first time since 1984 that the team has done it three weeks in a row to start the season.

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Cardinals could have 3rd straight player of the week

Cornerback Byron Murphy with his two interceptions and pick-six should be enough to give the Cardinals a player of the week honors in the NFC.

The Arizona Cardinals have had one of the NFC players of the week in each of the first two weeks of the season. Linebacker Chandler Jones was Defensive Player of the Week after he had five sacks in the season opener. Quarterback Kyler Murray should have won it after Week 1 but was named NFC Offensive Player of the Week after Week 2.

They might have a player of the week for the third consecutive week.

This time, it could be cornerback Byron Murphy.

He finished the Cardinals’ 31-19 win over the Jacksonville Jaguars with four tackles, two passes defensed and two interceptions. He returned the second interception 29 yards for the go-ahead touchdown in the second half.

Cleveland Browns defensive end Myles Garrett seems like a lock for AFC honors after getting 4.5 sacks on Sunday, but Murphy is certainly worthy of the NFC honors.

Keep an eye out Wednesday morning. Hopefully, the streak stays alive and Murphy gets the award.

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Cardinals give out 3 game balls in win over Jaguars

Head coach Kliff Kingsbury awarded game balls to CB Byron Murphy. WR Christian Kirk and WR A.J. Green.

The Arizona Cardinals had to come back from a 19-10 deficit on the road against the Jacksonville Jaguars on Sunday to win 31-19. They overcame adversity they might not have done in previous seasons.

After the win, head coach Kliff Kingsbury handed out three game balls for their play in the win.

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Jacksonville Jaguars’ flea-flicker becomes Arizona Cardinals’ pick-six

A trick play backfired big time on the Jacksonville Jaguars

Urban Meyer and the Jacksonville Jaguars couldn’t stand prosperity.

Boosted by an incredible, 109-yard touchdown return of a missed field goal by Jamal Agnew, Jacksonville at one point led Arizona 19-10.

Still leading by two in the second half, the Jags sent in a trick play for Trevor Lawrence to execute.

It backfired.

Carlos Hyde took the handoff and pitched the ball back to Lawrence.

The overall No. 1 draft pick makes an ill-advised throw that winds up in the hands of Byron Murphy, who takes it to the end zone to give the Cardinals the lead in the final minute of the third quarter.

It was Murphy’s second pick of the game.

Robert Alford’s return gives Cardinals good comfort level at CB entering Week 1

Kliff Kingsbury said the team is confident in Alford, Byron Murphy and Marco Wilson as starters at corner entering the season opener.

The Arizona Cardinals suffered a blow to their defensive backfield with the sudden retirement of cornerback Malcolm Butler. However, the Cardinals still believe they are in a good spot.

Now that cornerback Robert Alford has returned from the COVID reserve, head coach Kliff Kingsbury feels good about the guys who will take the field in Week 1 against the Tennessee Titans.

“I think we have three guys we feel really comfortable starting at outside corner,” Kingsbury told reporters Wednesday.

At the time, he had Byron Murphy, rookie Marco Wilson and recently acquired Luq Barcoo practicing with the starters.

While Kingsbury likes Barcoo, he was not one of the three players. Those players are Murphy, Wilson and Alford. At that time, though, Alford was still on the COVID list. He was activated from it on Friday, so the starters look set.

All offseason, throughout training camp and in the limited time the starters played, it was Murphy and Alford starting in base defenses. That will be the case still in Week 1. When they need three cornerbacks, Wilson, the Cardinals’ fourth-round pick, will come in and play outside while Murphy slides inside to the slot.

Wilson impressed in camp and in the preseason, which has the Cardinals excited and confident about him being in the lineup despite being a rookie.

This will be about as tough a test the Cardinals will face. The Titans had one of the league’s best offenses in 2020 and receivers Julio Jones and A.J. Brown are among the best in the league.

“We’re very confident in Alford, B-Murph and Marco and what we’ve seen from them,” Kingsbury said.

That confidence will be tested in nine days.

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Secret Superstars of the preseason: Week 2

With the second week of the full 2021 preseason in the books, here are the players who did the most under the radar to state their cases.

As the preseason rounds to a close and NFL teams are looking down the barrel of final cuts, it’s more important than ever for those players on the bubble — or in the near vicinity of the bubble — to show all they can do. Not only to stick with their current teams, but also to make their attributes obvious to other teams if they are cut for whatever reason.

Not every player on this week’s Secret Superstars list is a bubble guy, but each player used Week 2 of the full preseason as their times to shine — at just the right time.

True freshman DT Byron Murphy draws praise from Keondre Coburn

After disappointing on paper, there will end up being a few hidden gems from the 2021 cycle.

Many people reflect on Texas’ 2021 recruiting class and grow frustrated. Rightfully so. Tom Herman failed to deliver on some of the most important targets within the cycle, leaving the Longhorns outside of the top 10 on the 247Sports composite for the first time during his tenure.

However, there will end up being a few hidden gems from the 2021 cycle. One of the main ones may be three-star defensive tackle Byron Murphy.

Coming out of DeSoto High School, Murphy tied the famed high school’s single-season sack record with 14, giving him 20.5 for his career. After being committed to Baylor, Texas convinced him to flip over before the early signing day.

The issue people see with Murphy is his size. Listed at 6-foot-1, 297-pounds, many would consider that too small to play the defensive tackle position. Only two SEC schools (Georgia, Mississippi State) offered Murphy.

Early on in fall camp, none of it has mattered. Star defensive lineman Keondre Coburn has given nothing but praise for the former three-star, saying he is probably the best pass rusher on the team.

Winning every single rep over the past six days is impressive, especially for a true freshman going up against a solid offensive line.

Could early playing time be in store for the youngster? There projects to be plenty of bodies ahead of Murphy but winning reps in practice gets you on the field. Getting an early test against a weaker opponent such as Rice could give Texas’ defensive staff a better idea.

No other freshman is expected to instantly contribute on the defensive side of the ball. Murphy could be the first to break through, changing the narrative on what was a disappointing 2021 class on paper.

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