Cardinals quarterback Kyler Murray said he felt nervous before making his first start for Allen High School when he was 15 years old, but he insists that feeling hasn’t returned before any of the starts he’s made since then.
On Wednesday, he said that hasn’t changed as he draws closer to making his first NFL start. Murray will be facing the Lions on Sunday afternoon and the first overall pick of this year’s draft said he’s “chilling” with gameday on the horizon.
“I’m not nervous right now. . . . I always like to keep calm and just you know, be myself and trust the game plan, trust myself, trust my teammates going into it,” Murray said, via ESPN.com. “Go out there play my game and let the chips fall where they may.”
Cardinals head coach Kliff Kingsbury said that Murray’s placid demeanor isn’t any different when he’s out of the public eye.
“It’s the same,” Kingsbury said. “That’s what he is and who he is. I guess he thought he was going to be here his entire life, so it’s just the next step for him. I’ve said it all along: He’s a rookie quarterback in the NFL starting Week 1. There’s going to be some ups and downs. We’re going to make some mistakes. We’ll work through those and try to continue to improve together.”
Playing in a familiar offense has likely helped Murray remain on an even keel in the early days of his professional career as he’s avoided some of the bumps that other rookie quarterbacks might have to navigate on their way to the regular season. Navigating the bumps that NFL defenses will throw his way looms as a big next step, though.