Like Tom Brady, Arizona Cardinals quarterback Kyler Murray is organizing workouts with his teammates against the NFLPA council.
Unlike Brady, Murray’s team is calling him on the team’s official website.
Murray posted videos on Instagram and Twitter of trainings with teammates on Monday. Wide receivers Deandre Hopkins and Christian Kirk are among the players seen catching passes in drills with Murray while wearing a shirt that says “equality.”
Cardinals official site unearths training details
Murray did not provide much detail beyond the video, but clearly shows players working in conflict with the NFLPA’s guidance on the safety of COVID-19.
But do not worry. AZCardinals.com has you covered. The Cardinals’ official website reported on the training and identified Dan Arnold, Chase Edmonds, Kenyan Drake, Maxx Williams, Trent Sherfield and Drew Anderson as also participants.
In fact, the team’s website has been on the case since last week, analyzing the players’ social media posts to determine if they were indeed working together against the coronavirus guidelines and identifying the location of the workouts. in the Dallas area.
Is there a chance that the trainings would occur before the NFLPA issued its COVID-19 orientation? No AZCardinals.com also reported that Murray paid the bill for the training that was planned prior to the NFLPA memo but was scheduled for after the memo was released last Saturday.
Kyler Murray joined a roster of NFL QBs who avoided NFLPA guidance and was called up by his own team. (AP Photo / Lindsey Wasson, File)
So what exactly is the reason behind the team’s intrepid website reports that shed less than excellent light on their franchise quarterback? That is not entirely clear.
NFL QBs challenging the COVID-19 guide
What is clear is that NFL players, like much of the American population, will do whatever they want in the midst of the pandemic, regardless of public health advice.
The NFLPA memo issued on June 20 makes it clear that the union believes it is not in the best interests of the players’ health to participate in these trainings based on the guidance of medical director Dr. Thom Mayer.
“Please note that it is our agreed medical opinion that in light of the increase in COVID-19 cases in certain states that no player should participate in the practice of private practice,” Mayer wrote. “Our goal is for all players and their families to be as healthy as possible in the coming months.”
Since then, Brady, Murray, Detroit Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford and Seattle Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson have started training among their teammates. And those are just the ones we know about.
NFLPA criticizes training
The workouts were criticized by NFLPA Executive Director DeMaurice Smith on Sunday.
“Those practices are not the best for the safety of the players,” Smith told USA Today. “They are not in the best interest of protecting our players heading to training camp and I don’t think they are in the best interest of us getting through a full season.”
Of course, these low-impact catch-and-catch exercises do not present anything in terms of pandemic concerns that training camps scheduled for next month and the actual season of the NFL are coming. There is no social distancing in American football.
So if they’re going to do the real thing in the fall, it seems like some players are willing to take the least risk of exercising in the summer to gain an advantage.
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