Arizona Cardinals’ Kyler Murray sends message to Marvin Harrison Jr.

ARIZONA – No one is more critical of Arizona Cardinals WR Marvin Harrison Jr. than he is.

“I mean, obviously it wasn’t great,” Harrison told reporters after his mediocre debut, which featured just one reception for four yards.

“It was definitely not what I expected, what I wanted to happen, what the team wanted to happen. Obviously, we wanted to get a win and we didn’t.”

Harrison admitted that he was thinking too much instead of just playing.

“I was thinking a lot. I was thinking a lot on the field and I think that will come with reps, thinking less and just going out there and playing. That will definitely come with reps and it’s something I’ll get better at, but I definitely say I was thinking a lot on the field,” Harrison said.

In his meeting with reporters this week, Cardinals quarterback Kyler Murray sent a message to his star rookie after Harrison’s flawless debut:

“Nothing changes,” Murray said. “We have the utmost confidence in what we can do. If you look at the game, I thought they did a good job of making sure it wasn’t covered by one player for most of the game.

“But I will never lose faith in Marv.”

Even Cardinals head coach Jonathan Gannon said he believes Harrison will bounce back.

“Yes, he’ll be fine. Marvin will be fine. He’ll get back to work, but no one’s going to put more expectations or pressure or drive on him to succeed than he does,” Gannon said.

“He’ll be perfectly fine.”

With no preseason reps together, Sunday was the first taste of on-field action for Arizona as a unit.

The Murray-Harrison duo are expected to feed families for years to come – but the connection will come with time.

“I think it comes with time,” Murray said.

“…Obviously, my first game with Marv, we didn’t have any preseason reps. We’ve got to go out there and prove we can do it.”