Will Kyler Murray play in 2023? Cardinals make decision on $230,500,000 franchise QB 

Arizona Cardinals quarterback Kyler Murray is on the comeback trail after his ACL injury last season. Murray played 11 games before injury struck, and Arizona struggled mightly when he went down.

Given that the Cardinals have invested so much money into the quarterback position with Kyler, it makes sense that the franchise is playing the slow game with him.

The latest word of the next phase of Murray's recovery is out, and he will be sitting for a while.

With the nature of the injury, the Cardinals will not want to put Murray in harm's way at all by putting him in games earlier than he needs to be.

Thus, according to the NFL Network's Ian Rapoport, the Cardinals have placed Kyler Murray on the PUP list, which means he will miss at least the first four games of this season.

Considering that most ACL injuries take between nine and 12 months to get over, and Murray hurt his knee in December, he is approaching that threshold now.

But Arizona is clearly being patient, and there is no need to rush him back, considering many are of the thought that the Cardinals are re-building this year.

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What are expectations for Kyler Murray in comeback?

Arizona Cardinals training camp

Placing expectations on a player coming back from an ACL injury is harsh, but given Murray's draft position and the money spent on him, some will want him to hit the ground running.

Looking across the league at players coming back from ACL injuries, they are rarely themselves when they return to the field. The physical battle to see if their injured knees hold up to NFL practice is one thing, but perhaps the bigger hurdle to overcome is the mental side.

Dallas Cowboys receiver Michael Gallup spoke this offseason about not being 100% mentally as he came back from his ACL injury last year.

It takes time to get back.

Cardinals fans and their ownership will ideally like Kyler Murray to come back, get some games under his belt, knock the rust off, not get injured and use this season as a platform to build into 2024.

What that looks like is anyone's guess, but the bar has to be set low for Kyler when he returns this season.