Kyler says knee back to normal: 'I have to run more next year'

Arizona Cardinals quarterback Kyler Murray is looking to use his legs more in 2025 with his knee injury fully in the rearview mirror.

"I don't want to get too scheme-based about it, but I do feel like I have to run more next year," Murray told PHNX Sports. "I'm open to running more next year just because it's such a weapon."

Murray tore his ACL late in the 2022 season, which set him back to start the 2023 campaign. The 27-year-old says he felt the lingering effects early on last season but is fully comfortable entering 2025.

"They say the Year 2 (post-injury) is the best year, and honestly, how I feel right now is as if it never happened," Murray said. "Talking to (offensive coordinator) Drew (Petzing) and (quarterbacks coach Israel Woolfork), feeling like going into this year, I'll be able to do whatever I want to do."

Murray had a career-low 4.6 rushing attempts per game last season but averaged a career-best 7.3 yards per rush and scored five touchdowns on the ground. He had the eighth-most rushing attempts among quarterbacks in 2024 with 78, per StatMuse.

Murray's best rushing season came in 2020 when he totaled 819 yards and 11 rushing touchdowns on 8.3 attempts per contest.

Now that he's healthy, Murray wants to emulate the impact that league MVPs Lamar Jackson and Josh Allen have with their legs, including making off-script plays.

"We're a very good rushing team, which is a great thing," Murray said. "But when Lamar hands the ball off, everybody is like, 'Ahh' like you can relax. Josh hands the ball off, 'Ahh.' You know what I mean? ... I think where we get better is making things happen outside the pocket when plays break down."

Arizona was 6-4 midway through November last season but lost three straight games to drop out of playoff contention. The Cardinals finished the year 8-9 and have only made the postseason once (2021) since drafting Murray first overall in 2019.