Unfortunately, the Cardinals and Vikings have already played this year.
In the newest episode of the All Things Covered podcast, former Cardinals and current Vikings cornerback Patrick Peterson, who played with Cardinals quarterback Kyler Murray for two years, offered a blunt assessment of his former teammate.
“Kyler Murray don’t care about nobody but Kyler Murray,” Peterson said. “That’s just a matter of fact.”
The comment bubbled up from a conversation regarding the possibility that coach Kliff Kingsbury will be the scapegoat for the struggles of the team in 2022.
“Ain’t no maybe, he will,” Peterson said. “He will be. He will be. And the crazy thing about it, the guy who hired him will still have a job.”
The discussion pivoted to whether Murray would stick up for Kingsbury. And then Peterson said what he said.
Murray responded on social media: “This isn’t true…you on some weird shit [Peterson], you got my number, if you really felt like this as a ‘big bro’ or ‘mentor’ you supposed to call me and tell me, not drag me so your podcast can grow…"
Regardless of where Peterson has said it, it’s not a new thing. There’s a clear belief in league circles that Peterson wasn’t a fan of the way Murray handled his business.
Some also believe that future Hall of Fame receiver Larry Fitzgerald retired when he did specifically because of Murray. While Fitzgerald has never said that publicly (and probably wouldn’t), he heaped praise on Colt McCoy before the recent Monday night game between the 49ers and Cardinals in Mexico City for his leadership and attention to detail.
The implication seemed obvious; Colt McCoy does things that Kyler Murray doesn’t.
What Murray does moving forward will be very compelling, to say the least. A cold war between Peterson and Murray has turned hot. Who else will chime in?