Arizona Cardinals QB Kyler Murray ruled out vs. San Francisco 49ers due to ankle injury

Arizona Cardinals quarterback Kyler Murray has been ruled out with an ankle injury and won’t play Sunday against the San Francisco 49ers.

Click here for more PFF tools:

Rankings & Projections | WR/CB Matchup Chart | NFL & NCAA Betting Dashboards | NFL Player Props tool | NFL & NCAA Power Rankings

Murray suffered the injury late in a Week 8 loss to the Green Bay Packers. He didn’t participate in practice all week but traveled with the team to San Francisco with the plan to make him a game-day decision.

Sponsor

The Cardinals will play it safe with their franchise quarterback, which head coach Kliff Kingsbury alluded to earlier in the week.

“It's a 17-game season, you've got to be smart, we've got some big games coming up,” Kingsbury said Wednesday.

Murray has the third-highest passing grade (89.5) on the season and is a top MVP candidate. He’s completed 72.7 percent of his passes for 2,276 yards with 17 touchdowns and seven interceptions while rushing 49 times for 147 yards with three touchdowns in eight games.

Kyler Murray's performances by game | 2021

Veteran Colt McCoy is Murray’s backup quarterback. He was 1-1 in two starts with the New York Giants in 2020, earning a 62.8 passing grade. McCoy has a 52.6 passing grade since 2017. Arizona also has QB Chris Streveler on its 53-man roster.

The 7-1 Cardinals also will be without wide receiver A.J. Green, who was placed on the COVID-19/reserve list on Wednesday. Rookie Rondale Moore could step up as a starter alongside DeAndre Hopkins and Christian Kirk. Arizona also acquired tight end Zach Ertz in a trade last month.

All-Pro defensive end J.J. Watt suffered a potentially season-ending injury last Thursday against the Green Bay Packers and was placed on injured reserve this week.