- Joined
- May 8, 2002
- Posts
- 544,455
- Reaction score
- 47
The Arizona Cardinals' cornerback room received a jolt last week when Sean Murphy-Bunting was placed on the reserve/non-football injury list, making him ineligible to play for the entire 2025 season.
The knee injury apparently occurred prior to the draft and contributed to the Cardinals selecting cornerbacks Will Johnson and Denzel Burke in the second and fifth round, respectively.
Ahead of the first practice of OTAs Wednesday, head coach Jonathan Gannon revealed that Murphy-Bunting had surgery “to get it fixed. So he won’t be able to play this year. It's a tough break for him, a tough break for us, but we'll move forward and so will he.”
Moving forward without Murphy-Bunting still leaves a crowded room that, in addition to Johnson and Burke, includes the following players:
Asked whether he has a comfort level with several of the corners that now have game experience, Gannon said, “You need reps to learn. But that's an ongoing process for all our guys, no matter if you play 18 years like Calais (Campbell); he'll learn from good and bad reps (same as) a rookie that's never played in the NFL before.
“Everyone's at different stages in their career, but feel really good about that room, feel good about the guys that are coming back and feel really good about the guys that we added.”
Gannon has referred to Johnson as “a perfect scheme fit,” and was asked what that means and whether Johnson’s chances to play are enhanced by the loss of Murphy-Bunting.
"Off the tape in college, he played in multiple systems and had to do different things. And we ask our corners to do a lot. They play a lot of different techniques and he can play them all. So that's what I really meant by scheme fit.
“But as far as where he fits in this, he's competing for his role right now, just like everybody.”
Get more Cardinals and NFL coverage from Cards Wire's Jess Root and others by listening to the latest on the Rise Up, See Red podcast. Subscribe on Spotify, YouTube or Apple podcasts.
This article originally appeared on Cards Wire: Cardinals HC Jonathan Gannon says he feels ‘really good about’ CB room
Continue reading...
The knee injury apparently occurred prior to the draft and contributed to the Cardinals selecting cornerbacks Will Johnson and Denzel Burke in the second and fifth round, respectively.
Ahead of the first practice of OTAs Wednesday, head coach Jonathan Gannon revealed that Murphy-Bunting had surgery “to get it fixed. So he won’t be able to play this year. It's a tough break for him, a tough break for us, but we'll move forward and so will he.”
Moving forward without Murphy-Bunting still leaves a crowded room that, in addition to Johnson and Burke, includes the following players:
- Garrett Williams (D2 2023), 16 games/11 starts in 2024
- Star Thomas V (waiver claim 2023), 17 games/15 starts
- Max Melton, (D2 2024), 17 games/3 starts
- Elijah Jones (D3 2024), IR (ankle) entire season
- Kei’Trel Clark (D6 2023), 15 games/1 start
- Jaylon Jones (FA 2025) 8 games/1 start with Bears
- Jaden Davis (D7 2024), practice squad all season
- Ekow Boye-Doe (FA 2025), practice squad with Giants
Asked whether he has a comfort level with several of the corners that now have game experience, Gannon said, “You need reps to learn. But that's an ongoing process for all our guys, no matter if you play 18 years like Calais (Campbell); he'll learn from good and bad reps (same as) a rookie that's never played in the NFL before.
“Everyone's at different stages in their career, but feel really good about that room, feel good about the guys that are coming back and feel really good about the guys that we added.”
Gannon has referred to Johnson as “a perfect scheme fit,” and was asked what that means and whether Johnson’s chances to play are enhanced by the loss of Murphy-Bunting.
"Off the tape in college, he played in multiple systems and had to do different things. And we ask our corners to do a lot. They play a lot of different techniques and he can play them all. So that's what I really meant by scheme fit.
“But as far as where he fits in this, he's competing for his role right now, just like everybody.”
Get more Cardinals and NFL coverage from Cards Wire's Jess Root and others by listening to the latest on the Rise Up, See Red podcast. Subscribe on Spotify, YouTube or Apple podcasts.
This article originally appeared on Cards Wire: Cardinals HC Jonathan Gannon says he feels ‘really good about’ CB room
Continue reading...
