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Kyler Murray is back.
The Arizona Cardinals quarterback has spent the entire 2023 season sidelined after tearing his ACL last December. He’s now in line to return Sunday.
Arizona activated Murray on Tuesday, putting him on track to start a Week 10 matchup with the Atlanta Falcons.
ACT1VATED. pic.twitter.com/0kMCZKxSFV
— Arizona Cardinals (@AZCardinals) November 7, 2023
Murray was a full practice participant the last two weeks, but the Cardinals leveraged the 21-day window before needing to active him from the injured reserve.
Preseason acquisition Joshua Dobbs replaced Murray through eight games before Arizona traded him to the Minnesota Vikings last week. Rookie Clayton Tune threw for 58 yards and two picks in his first career NFL start, a 27-0 loss to the Cleveland Browns.
Head coach Jonathan Gannon said Monday that Murray would start Arizona’s next game if practice goes well this week.
A returning Murray provides a huge boost to a Cardinals offense ranked 26th in total yards. The former No. 1 pick has a 92.5 quarterback rating in 57 career starts, averaging 242.9 passing yards and 38.7 rushing yards per game.
Murray returns to a 1-8 Cardinals team playing for little beyond draft positioning. But the 26-year-old could have a chip on his shoulder after averaging a career-worst 6.1 yards per pass attempt during a down 2022 campaign.
Yet Gannon acknowledged that the dynamic quarterback may take some time to return to form.
“We got to be willing to understand that it might not look like Kyler,” Gannon said Monday, per ESPN’s Josh Weinfuss. “And I think he’s got a good expectation of that. The coaches have a good expectation of that, but I know this: He’s going to come out there and play his game and help us win.”