Patriots

GLENDALE, Ariz. (AP) — Kyler Murray was driving to the Arizona Cardinals' training facility Wednesday when he realized it had been almost exactly two years since he tore the ACL in his right knee during a game against the New England Patriots .

Then one other thought occurred to him: It was the Patriots, coming to town that Sunday for the primary time for the reason that injury.

“Yeah, it’s a little weird,” Murray said with a wry grin. “I’ll try to make sure this doesn’t happen again.”

The injury on December 12, 2022 cost Murray about 11 months of his profession, but he was healthy this season. And now the Cardinals (6-7) will cling to their playoff hopes once they host the Patriots (3-10) on Sunday.

Both teams have lost three games in a row. The Patriots are coming off their bye week and haven't played since a 25-24 loss to the Indianapolis Colts on Dec. 1. The Cardinals try to beat a brutal 30-18 loss to NFC West rival Seattle that left them in a tie for last place within the crowded division.

Murray is coming off considered one of his worst games for the reason that injury, throwing two interceptions, each of which ultimately led to touchdowns for Seattle. It was a rare blemish in an otherwise solid season — he threw for two,862 yards, 15 touchdowns and eight interceptions.

Now the Cardinals are just about in win territory.

“For us, all we can do is control what we can control, and that’s this weekend,” Murray said. “Today, tomorrow, Sunday, go out and play good football.”

Defend Drake

The Cardinals defense needs a greater performance after giving up 409 total yards to Seattle last week, including 176 yards on the bottom.

Against the running game, it's especially vital to tackle New England's rookie quarterback Drake Maye, who’s averaging 9.1 yards per rush on 38 attempts. The highest rushing average for an NFL quarterback in a single season is Michael Vick's 8.5 in 2006, when he had 123 rushing attempts for 1,039 yards with Atlanta.

Maye is anything but one-dimensional. He has thrown for at the least 220 yards in each of the last three games and is improving quickly. The Patriots took Maye with the No. 3 overall select of North Carolina.

“Yeah, I think he’s grown since he’s been playing,” coach Jonathan Gannon said. “I think he's probably playing his best ball at the moment, probably just because of the experience. So his skills are definitely outstanding. You can see why he was brought so high. He’s a good player and he’s on the rise.”

Strange development

New England offensive lineman Cole Strange has a brand new haircut and will make his season debut, possibly at a brand new position.

Strange, who often sports curls, returned from the Patriots' bye week with a brief haircut. This could coincide with a possible move to center after he’s activated this week, making him eligible to see his first game since his season-ending knee injury in 2023.

Strange, a 2022 first-round pick, began 10 games at left guard last season before being placed on injured reserve.

Strange has worked at each left guard and center since returning to practice on Nov. 20 and will see his first NFL snaps on the latter position. Longtime Patriots center David Andrews underwent season-ending shoulder surgery in October. Ben Brown has began the last eight games at center.

Play spoilers

Murray said the Cardinals can't take the Patriots calmly despite their mediocre record. He compared New England to Arizona last season, when the team was eliminated from the playoffs but played good football down the stretch.

Murray particularly praised Patriots cornerback Christian Gonzalez, saying he was a “big fan.”

Both players are from Texas.

“We were in a similar situation to them and then we went to Pittsburgh, Philly and (won),” Murray said. “They’re going to come in here and play hard. We understand that and we have to be ready to get started.”

Looking into the long run

The Patriots are already out of playoff contention, but that didn't stop Maye from spending a part of his release week watching matchups between teams still fighting for postseason position.

The reason? He wanted to have a look, albeit from a distance, on the similarities between the teams which are still playing meaningful games at this point within the season.

“Especially if you didn’t feel it,” Maye said. “I haven’t really experienced a playoff game yet. With the playoff games and the environment here in Gillette, you always hear about what it was like in the past… and watching Tom (Brady) and those guys duel. The runs they had were special. I think you want that feeling and those guys in the locker room, some of them had it. A lot of us young people didn’t do that.”

Maye hopes it serves as motivation going forward.

“I think that's what we're striving for and can use the last four games as a challenge and a step to say, 'Hey, what we have and what we have here on this team and who can help us and who can make some plays. ' ?'” he said.

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Co-star of the long-running show “Impractical Jokers,” James “Murr” Murray, was the grand marshal for Sunday’s Toyota/SaveMart 350 and belted out a hearty “Gentlemen, start your engines!” before the NASCAR Cup Series race at Sonoma Raceway.

“I heard someone say the other day that you can't believe it when you get there, the absolute energy in the air, and my goodness, I feel it,” Murray said before the race. “When you're out there walking around the fans and in the stands, it's absolutely electric. You can feel the energy in the air.”

For the drivers, it was all business on Sunday, but Murray offered some advice for his own work when jokes go horribly incorrect.

“One hopes that the security forces are not too far away,” Murray said.

Murray, his co-stars Brian “Q” Quinn and Sal Vulcano, and his comedy partner Joe Gatto had one such gag with former MLB pitcher Noah Syndergaard when he was with the New York Mets. As is common with some MLB players, Syndergaard would often sign balls before games and toss them to children within the audience.

This time, Syndergaard was signing balls, “but he was working with us, so he was just throwing the balls to Gatto on the show, and the parents were getting mad. And then at one point we told Joe to pick up a baby and say, 'Oh yeah, I'll get the ball.' Noah throws him the ball and gives the baby back to the mom and keeps the baseball, and she freaked out,” Murray said.

“For me it was great fun because I wasn't the one who was punished. So I just laughed. I was safe at the back.”

The next season of Impractical Jokers premieres July 11 on TBS.

“I think you learn how far you can push people, and we always try to stay on the right side of likability. So that's part of it,” Murray said. “Look at me. I don't look like a tough guy. To quote Colin Jost, I have a very punchable face.”

“It helps that we don't look really famous. I look like a pharmacist. People see me and say, 'That guy looks familiar, are my taxes due?' So we get away with a lot more than your typical tough guy.”

Murray spoke to a couple of drivers before Sunday's race, including Todd Gilliland and Corey LaJoie. When asked which driver he would “penalize” – a feature of the show – Murray said Ross Chastain, who used a now-infamous maneuver on the ultimate lap of the 2022 Xfinity 500 at Martinsville.

Chastain went full throttle on the ultimate lap and intentionally rammed his automobile into the wall, using the energy to overtake his rivals.

The move allowed Chastain to overtake several other drivers and work his way into the last of the 4 spots in NASCAR's title-deciding final race. Fans loved it, but Chastain's competitors felt the move was dangerous and never within the spirit of fair competition. The move is now considered a penalty.

“I stole his move,” Murray said of Chastain. “You know, when he was writing on the wall. I stole that move and made him watch me do it better. Even though you can't do it much better than him. That was great.”