BEREA, Ohio (92.3 The Fan) – Arizona Cardinals quarterback Kyler Murray was limited in practice Wednesday due to a right shoulder injury but it likely won’t prevent him from a rematch with Baker Mayfield.
Murray is preparing to lead the NFL’s lone remaining unbeaten team, the 5-0 Cardinals, into Cleveland Sunday to take on Mayfield, his former college teammate, and the Browns.
“It was pretty fun to have him in the same quarterback room,” Mayfield said Wednesday, reflecting on their time together at Oklahoma.
The two former Sooners won the Heisman Trophy and were No. 1 overall picks in the NFL Draft in back-to-back years. Mayfield won it in 2017 and was selected by the Browns first overall in April 2018. Murray did the Heisman pose in 2018 before the Cardinals picked him with the 2019 No. 1 pick.
It was only the fourth time in history the same school had a player win the award in consecutive seasons, but the first time for quarterbacks.
Yale end Larry Kelley and halfback Clint Frank won it in 1936 and 1937, Army fullback Doc Blanchard and halfback Glenn Davis in 1945 and 1946 and Archie Griffin, the only two-time winner, for Ohio State in 1974-75.
“At that point in time, obviously, all egos were put to the side, and we were able to do some special things,” Mayfield said. “He was able to play my senior year to put him in on some certain packages and do whatever it was going to take to win.
“Yeah, that is a time that when you look at our whole offense for those two years where he was there that it is pretty elite talent all around – offensive line, skill position, running backs, receivers and tight ends. We had a good group.”
The two square off on opposite sides for the second time in the NFL, but this time on Mayfield’s turf at FirstEnergy Stadium.
Murray got the best of Mayfield in 2019 – a 38-24 victory in Arizona.
While both players share a mutual respect, their competitiveness is what drives them, and will do so again this week.
“Him and I are very different personalities, but he is so, so extremely competitive,” Mayfield said. “He might show it a different way, but he is extremely competitive. I think that is another reason why he is where he is.”
Following that game in Arizona, the two swapped autographed jerseys with written messages on them to each other. Mayfield’s read “K1! Love You Bro! KEEP PROVING EVERYBODY WRONG!” Murray wrote “BAKE: APPRECIATE YOU AND EVERYTHING YOU’VE DONE FOR ME BRO!!”
The correspondence between them this week probably won’t be as sentimental, or cordial.
“With him, there is always something. There is always a little bit of trash talk,” Mayfield said. “We see each other quite often in the offseason. He might show it differently, but behind closed doors, he is quite the trash talker so do not let him fool you.”
It didn’t take Mayfield long to realize how talented Murray was coming out of high school.
“He never lost a high school game,” Mayfield said. “You would see clips and highlights from when he was playing. You could just tell he had it – the way he elevated his teammates, the way he plays and all of that.
It has been that way since I had ever heard of him.”
It wasn’t easy for Mayfield to come up with one word to describe Murray when asked by reporters Wednesday.
“Dynamic, maybe. I do not know,” Mayfield responded after taking a moment to find the right one. “He has all his bases covered. He is obviously a tremendous athlete, but I think he sees and understands the concepts in space a lot better than people might give him credit for. He is able to take advantage of space because he is so quick, but he is able to dissect a defense.”
While the Cardinals are the early surprise team of 2021, Mayfield and the Browns look to bounce back from a tough loss to the Chargers in Los Angeles that have some questioning Mayfield’s ability to close out opponents.
“We left a lot of points on the board in the first half to where we would not have needed a late drive,” Mayfield said. “To us, it is about execution. It always comes down that, whether it is the last drive of the fourth quarter or early on in the first half. You have to be hyper focused on those little details to be able to execute your offense no matter the circumstances.”
Mayfield continues to play through a torn labrum in his left shoulder, but because it isn’t affecting his game status or reps, he isn’t listed on the Browns injury report.
Murray and the Cardinals swoop into town averaging 31.4 points per game and with a banged up secondary, all eyes will be on Mayfield to keep pace.
“We have to be able to play complementary football,” Mayfield said. “For us on offense, that just means going out and scoring touchdowns and not settling for field goals in the red zone, which we did not do nearly a good enough job last week. We have to fix those things.
“We will see how the game flows, but obviously, we know going into it they are scoring a lot of points and that is why they are undefeated.”
