Marvin Harrison Jr. responds to criticism strongly but still sees room for improvement

After a debut album that offered more question marks than exclamation points, Marvin Harrison responded to the critics in resounding fashion.

The Cardinals’ first-round pick had four receptions for 130 yards and two touchdowns in the first quarter against the Rams. It’s the first time a rookie receiver has had four or more receptions and two or more touchdowns in the first quarter of a game since his Hall of Fame father did it in 1996 with the Colts.

Harrison Jr. finished with no more receptions, no more yards and no more touchdowns, but it was enough for the Cardinals in a 41-10 rout of the Rams.

The first thing Harrison noticed on the stat sheet, though, was that all four of Kyler Murray’s incomplete passes were targets for him.

“I am not very happy about it,” Harrison said, via Theo Mackie of Arizona Republic“We absolutely have to solve this problem.”

After the third overall pick played 55 of 61 offensive snaps but had just one reception for 4 yards on three targets with a drop in the opener, ESPN’s Seth Walder pointed out that Harrison top speed 16.7 mph ranked 1,699th out of 1,730 wideouts who have played at least 25 snaps since the start of the 2023 season.

Harrison seemed confused when told the statistic last week.

“All I know,” Harrison said, “is that I’m fast.”

He proved on Sunday that he is fast enough… and that players should not be judged on just one game.

“You can’t change anything in a week,” Harrison said. “Process is probably the most critical and important factor of all.”