Where Kyler Murray’s preseason debut with the Arizona Cardinals was a near-perfect performance, he had his first real dose of NFL pressure in the second game against the Oakland Raiders.
The No. 1 overall pick and Heisman Trophy winner struggled in the loss to the Raiders, passing for 12 yards on 3 of 8 attempts. He was sacked twice, slid into his own end zone for a safety and was called for a pair of false starts.
But it was clear that the Raiders went into the game with the sole intention of stopping Murray. The latest episode of Hard Knocks provided a glimpse of how Jon Gruden singled out Murray in the team’s preparation. That led to an interesting postgame interaction with Antonio Brown, which HBO aired during the episode.
Murray — somewhat jokingly — complained about the Raiders constantly bringing the house on defense to Brown. (Note: The exchange comes at the 49-second mark).
Brown told Murray that he should get used to defenses bringing constant pressure on him. It’s part of the game, and with the Cardinals’ weak offensive line, teams will look to rattle the rookie quarterback.
Murray probably didn’t expect that degree of pressure during preseason, but it’s only going to get tougher. Brown wanted him to know that.
