A cloud quickly fell over Monday night’s game between the New England Patriots and Arizona Cardinals, when Arizona quarterback Kyler Murray sustained an injury and was carted off in the opening minutes.
On the third play from scrimmage, Murray scrambled to his right. Murray looked to try to cut to the inside but fell to the ground quickly after planting his right leg.
Peyton Manning, who was doing the ManningCast with his brother, Eli, said that he was “absolutely sick seeing Kyler carted off.”
Peyton and Eli were not alone. The NFL sent its best wishes Murray’s way after the injury.
Just terrible to see…
The young man was carded off following this non-contact leg injury. https://t.co/P7izuCtoaK—
Bauer – : @BauerOnTheMic (@BauerOnTheMic) December 13, 2022
The exact injury and severity won’t be known until more tests are done. That said, the fact that it was non-contact, came on a plant and that Murray fell so quickly to the ground points to a likely ACL tear.
Seen too many ACL tears happen like this in this sport to not think that this is what just happened to Kyler https://t.co/2uOELyzsGk
— Adam Patrick (@adampatrickNFL) December 13, 2022
And if that is the case, Murray probably won’t return to action until the 2023 season is well underway.
This would make what’s already been a turbulent, frustrating season for Murray and the Cardinals even worse.
It is possible that the injury won’t be as bad as it initially looked. We saw that earlier in Week 14 with Deebo Samuel and the San Francisco 49ers. The key difference, though, was that Samuel’s injury was full contact and was largely caused by being tackled among a big group of people. Murray’s injury being non-contact makes it harder to have an optimistic outlook.