Arizona Cardinals hopeful extra days off helpful for injured quarterback Kyler Murray

TEMPE, Ariz. — A long weekend came at the right time for Arizona Cardinals quarterback Kyler Murray.

The day after Murray was rolled up on during the Cardinals’ final offensive play of their 24-21 loss to the Green Bay Packers on Thursday night, head coach Kliff Kingsbury said a few extra days of rest will help the third-year quarterback’s health.

“I know he was sore today,” Kingsbury said. “Hopefully, the next two or three days off will be good for him. We’ll see where he’s at next week.”

The Cardinals will have the weekend off before returning to prepare for a road game against the San Francisco 49ers. Murray was seen leaving State Farm Stadium in a walking boot on his left leg. He went down after throwing an interception in the final seconds Thursday night and was seen by trainers before limping off the field.

After the game, Murray said: “I’m good.”

Kingsbury also said linebacker Zaven Collins, who left the game in the first quarter and did not return, was dealing with a recurring AC joint issue in his shoulder. The Cardinals are in position to get a few injured players back in the next week, Kingsbury said.

Starting center Rodney Hudson, who was on short-term injury reserve, “has made great progress. We’ll get him going next week and see if he’s able to go, or not.”

Kingsbury said the same about center Max Garcia, Hudson’s backup, who missed Thursday’s game with an Achilles injury. Arizona could also get defensive linemen Rashard Lawrence back. He has been out with a calf injury. Adding those injured players back into the rotation could help the Cardinals fix some of the discipline issues that have plagued them as of late.

“Considering last night I thought was our sloppiest game overall, in all three phases, we’ve got a ways to go there,” Kingsbury said. “The biggest takeaway I have is from the first snap of the season we’ve played with great effort, played to win, been aggressive, done all of those things, been resilient. Week to week we haven’t been as crisp as we need to be. How we practice has to translate onto the playing field, and that will be an ongoing work in progress as we continue down the road.”