It's January 2026, and the desert air in Glendale feels a little colder than usual for Cardinals fans. Just a few weeks ago, the team officially shut down Kyler Murray for the remainder of the 2025 season. Honestly, it feels like we’ve been here before, doesn’t it? The same "will-he, won't-he" dance at the practice facility, the cryptic social media posts, and the eventual sigh of a press conference confirming the worst.
For a guy who came into the league as a "video game" athlete, the reality has been far more fragile. Kyler Murray injury history isn't just a list of medical reports; it’s the primary reason the Arizona Cardinals are currently staring at a massive $40 million cap hit for 2026 while their franchise QB watches from the sidelines in a walking boot.
The Foot Injury That Might Have Ended an Era
Let’s talk about the most recent blow. In Week 5 of the 2025 season against the Tennessee Titans, Kyler went down with what looked like a standard "tweak." We all thought he’d be back in two weeks. Maybe three.
Instead, the diagnosis was a nasty mid-foot sprain, a variation of the dreaded Lisfranc injury. For a quarterback whose entire game is built on sudden twitch and lateral movement, a mid-foot issue is basically a death sentence for a season. You can’t push off. You can’t pivot. You certainly can’t outrun a 280-pound defensive end.
Jonathan Gannon finally pulled the plug in December after Kyler went out of state for a second opinion. The news was grim: the foot just wasn't healing.
- Games played in 2025: 5
- Touchdowns: 6
- The Vibe: Discouraging.
While Kyler was rehabbing, Jacoby Brissett stepped in and... well, he actually looked comfortable. He was averaging over 240 yards per game compared to Kyler’s sub-200. That’s the kind of detail that makes front offices start doing "cap casualty" math on a napkin at 2 AM.
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The ACL Tear: The Moment Everything Changed
If you want to understand why Kyler looks different today, you have to go back to December 12, 2022. Monday Night Football against the Patriots. It was a non-contact injury—the scariest kind. You see a player plant their foot, the knee buckles, and you just know.
He tore the ACL in his right knee just three plays into the game.
The recovery was long and, frankly, exhausting to follow. He missed the first half of 2023, eventually returning in Week 10. But he wasn’t Kyler yet. He was a pocket passer forced into a body that didn't quite trust itself. He only rushed 44 times in those 10 games. For context, he used to hit those numbers in a month.
By the time 2024 rolled around, he claimed he was 100%. He actually played all 17 games that year, throwing for over 3,800 yards. It was a "prove it" year that he technically passed, but the explosive, ankle-breaking speed of 2020 felt like a distant memory.
A Timeline of the Dings and Bruises
It hasn't always been the "big" ones, though. Kyler has a history of these nagging lower-body issues that seem to crop up right when the Cardinals are trying to make a playoff push.
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- 2019 Hamstring: Even as a rookie, his hamstrings were a talking point. He missed practice time and was limited in the season finale.
- 2021 High Ankle Sprain: This one was frustrating. He was playing at an MVP level, the Cardinals were 7-0, and then he hurt the ankle against Green Bay. He missed three games, and the team’s momentum never really recovered.
- 2022 Hamstring (Pre-ACL): Right before the knee gave out, he had already missed two games with a hamstring strain. Some experts actually believe the hamstring weakness contributed to the ACL tear, as the muscles weren't properly stabilizing the joint.
Why the "Injury-Prone" Label is Complicated
Is Kyler Murray injury-prone, or is he just unlucky?
Look, he’s 5'10" and barely over 200 pounds. When you play a high-collision sport and your primary weapon is your ability to scramble, the math isn't on your side. Pro Football Doc and other medical analysts have pointed out that Murray’s throwing mechanics are heavily dependent on his back foot—his right foot.
When that right foot or right knee is compromised, his accuracy falls off a cliff. We saw it in late 2025 before he was shut down. He was throwing short, skipping balls, and looked completely unable to drive the football downfield.
There’s also the psychological side. Coming back from an ACL is one thing. Coming back from an ACL followed by a serious foot injury is another. It changes how you see the field. You start seeing "ghosts" in the pocket. You slide earlier. You hesitate.
What Happens in 2026?
The Cardinals are in a corner. If they keep him, they’re betting $40 million that a 28-year-old with a reconstructed knee and a problematic foot can still be a top-10 QB. If they trade him, they have to find a team willing to take on that contract and those medical records.
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So, where does that leave you, the fan or the fantasy manager?
First, don't buy into the "he's back to normal" hype in training camp. We heard that in 2024 and 2025. Wait to see the rushing attempts. If Kyler isn't running 6-8 times a game, he isn't the K1 that won a Heisman.
Second, keep an eye on the "out of state" medical updates. When a team sends a player for a second opinion this late in the recovery process, it usually means the internal medical staff and the player are on different pages regarding the timeline.
Actionable Insights for the 2026 Offseason:
- Watch the Vesting Dates: Murray has massive injury guarantees. If he’s still on the roster on the fifth day of the league year in March 2026, more money becomes fully guaranteed. That is the "deadline" for the Cardinals to make a move.
- The Backup is the Priority: Whether it's Jacoby Brissett or a rookie, Arizona's QB2 is now one of the most important positions on the team.
- Monitor the Mechanics: If Kyler does return to the field, watch his back-foot plant. If he’s still "short-arming" throws, that mid-foot hasn't fully regained its structural integrity.
The talent has never been the question. It's the availability. And as the old coaching cliché goes, the best ability is availability. Right now, Kyler Murray is 0-for-2 in that department over the last few seasons.