Over the offseason, Arizona Cardinals wide receiver Marvin Harrison Jr. caught everyone’s attention by rebuilding his body in a pretty significant way. Adding somewhere in the neighborhood of 15 pounds of muscle has Harrison looking different and feeling different, but just because a guy looks invincible, it doesn’t mean he actually is.
The Cardinals are learning this the hard way, though in fairness, things could be much worse. Harrison was on the sideline nursing a sore knee as the Cards took the field for practice on Friday. Understandably, there is plenty of concern regarding the health of Arizona’s number one receiver, but based on what head coach Jonathan Gannon had to say about the situation, it sounds like fans in the desert can breathe a sigh of relief, at least for now.
“Marv will not be out there today. We’re just being smart with those guys,” Gannon told reporters before practice on July 31, per Donnie Druin of Sports Illustrated. “He’s okay, kind of day to day. We’re gonna be smart with him.”
Gannon went on to explain that despite the nagging knee injury to the second-year receiver who will enter the 2025 season with even higher expectations than last year, the physicality of Cardinals training camp thus far has been exactly what he hoped for.
“We needed some perturbation, as I would call it, some friction, but we’ll be smart and we’ll adapt as we get going,” Gannon explained. “But I thought they did a really good job, and what I’m grateful to the locker room is they practice the right way, and they protect their teammates. So it is very physical, it is very violent, but we’re practicing the way that we need to protect their teammates, which is good.”
Marvin Harrison Jr. In Good Place Mentally
Even though Marvin Harrison Jr. isn’t in the best place physically right now, his mental status has improved greatly since his rookie season. Harrison hasn’t been shy about the mental and emotional toll his rookie year took on him, and for as much work as he did to improve his body in the offseason, it’s apparent he’s done just as much work on his mind as well.
“Being able to play free, go out there and not overthink anything. Go out there and do what I’m capable of doing. I know I have the ability to do everything that the coaches ask of me and whatever is needed for this team to win,” Harrison told Dani Surek of AZCardinals.com. “Having a year underneath my belt, being more relaxed, I can go out there and play free.”
Assuming the work Harrison did to improve his headspace ends up being just as evident as the work he did to add muscle, it’s likely that the son of the Indianapolis Colts lifer and Pro Football Hall of Famer Marvin Harrison Sr. will have a breakout season soon enough.
Kyler Murray’s Future Could Be In Marvin Harrison Hands
It’s only year two for Marvin Harrison Jr., but his quarterback, Kyler Murray, has been in Arizona since 2019. Much like Harrison, Murray arrived in the NFL with plenty of hype as the 1st overall pick in the 2019 NFL Draft. But in Murray’s six pro seasons, the Cards have only made the postseason once. His leadership has been called into question, and his health has been a recurring issue.
Murray is under the proverbial microscope as he heads into the 2025 season, and a healthy Marvin Harrison would be a gift for the former Pro Bowl quarterback. Harrison will be involved plenty this season, as will tight end Trey McBride, who established himself as Murray’s favorite target in 2024. A two-headed attack at running back should give the Cards offense some balance.
If Arizona doesn’t improve on their 8-9 record from last season, or if Murray doesn’t show signs of being able to take his game to another level, there will be tough conversations that need to be had within the Cardinals organization. But regardless of how this season goes, Harrison will remain a piece of Arizona’s core for the foreseeable future.
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