GLENDALE, Ariz. — The Arizona Cardinals announced 2020 team captains on Wednesday, one day prior to the kickoff the NFL season. Included on the list, starting quarterback Kyler Murray, coming off his offensive rookie of the year season last year.
Murray, 23, is joined by Larry Fitzgerald and D.J. Humphries as offensive captains. Humphries is a first-time captain, who signed a three-year contract extension with the team this past offseason.
On defense, cornerback Patrick Peterson is a captain again after he was not named captain in 2019. He's joined by fellow veterans Chandler Jones and Corey Peters as well as Jordan Hicks and Dennis Gardeck.
Head coach Kliff Kingsbury said the team was expecting to name six team captains but decided to go with eight because there were close votes.
Murray said Wednesday he was honored to have received the title from his teammates.
“To have the guys look at me as a captain is a huge deal to me," Murray said. "I’m thankful for the opportunity to lead these guys every day. I just try to come in each day, do my job, work hard, show the guys that I care. Every time I touch the field, I just want to win. That’s the biggest deal to me, winning.”
Murray has been getting plenty of attention this offseason as a quarterback that could possibly make a run at the NFL's Offensive MVP award. Notably, Patrick Mahomes and Lamar Jackson each won the award in their sophomore seasons in the NFL.
However, Murray says that hasn't occupied any of his focus.
“I don’t really pay any mind to it," Murray said. "They gotta put somebody in the talk. I’ve got to go out and play well and if I play well, I can put myself in that conversation. As far as people talking and stuff, I don’t really pay attention to it.”
The Cardinals are looking ahead to Sunday's game in Santa Clara against the 49ers, a team the Cardinals played well twice last season but ended up losing both games. The 49ers, of course, went on to play in the Super Bowl where they lost to the Kansas City Chiefs.
"Last year is last year, yeah we played them good twice but we still lost twice, so that’s a fail on our part," Murray said. "First game of the season, no matter the opponent, we’ve got to go out and execute."
Murray added that it doesn't get much better than to play a team that went to the Super Bowl in Week 1. The team, confident coming out of a productive offseason and training camp, will have a true test to begin the season on Sunday.
