Cardinals
- Sports Illustrated’s Albert Breer says his sense is the Cardinals want to see more leadership from QB Kyler Murray, who can keep to himself or be a little moody at times in the team facility. Murray also supposedly hasn’t been the “early in, late out” type that is expected of a franchise quarterback.
- Breer adds this is coming up now because Murray is eligible for an extension for the first time this offseason and these are the kinds of questions Arizona wants answered as they potentially make a huge investment.
- NFL Media’s Mike Garafolo says the Cardinals have not had a big-picture conversation about the future with Murray since his end-of-season meeting, adding they are looking to see him take a better leadership role, improving his maturity and body language.
- Garafolo relays an anecdote about Murray taking himself out at the end of the blowout loss to the Rams in the wildcard round instead of staying in and finishing the game with his teammates, like backup QB Colt McCoy was urging him to.
- Cardinals owner Michael Bidwill declined to comment on Murray but would say that the team still has confidence in him. (Kent Somers)
- Murray responded to criticism from an anonymous source that called him “self-centered, immature, and a finger pointer” by tweeting: “I play this game for the love of it, my teammates, everyone who has helped me get to this position that believed in me & to win championships. All of this nonsense is not what I’m about, never has been, never will be. Anyone who has ever stepped between those lines with me knows how hard I go. Love me or hate me but I’m going to continue to grow and get better.” (PFT)
- The Cardinals are hiring former Dolphins assistant Matt Burke as their defensive line coach. (Tom Pelissero)
Rams
Rams COO Kevin Demoff acknowledged the mounting speculation about HC Sean McVay and whether he’ll retire sooner rather than later. He did say McVay likely needs a break due to how much time he puts into the job.
“I would agree I don’t think Sean’s current pace is sustainable, in terms of how much work he puts in if you want to have a family,” Demoff said via Dylan Hernandez of the Los Angeles Times. “But I think the one thing (is) these guys all love football. They love being around each other, they feed off of each other. A month away, two months away, from everybody and I think things will feel a lot better.”
Seahawks
- NFL Media’s Ian Rapoport reports Seahawks WR D.K. Metcalf underwent foot surgery to remove a screw that was in his foot from a previous procedure and bothered him during the season.
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