Insider shares Cardinals' plans for playing Kyler Murray

Arizona Cardinals quarterback Kyler Murray returned to practice from the reserve/physically unable to perform list on Wednesday, and ESPN's Josh Weinfuss shared how the Cardinals are preparing the 26-year-old to make his season debut next month. 

"Internally, the Cardinals see Murray as physically ready to return to a game but understand there'll be some rust he needs to knock off," Weinfuss noted in a piece published Friday. "There'll also be a learning curve for Murray to take what he's learned in the classroom and implement it on the field."

Murray underwent ACL surgery that included some meniscus repair this past January after he suffered a serious knee injury on Dec. 12. 

Cardinals head coach Jonathan Gannon told reporters Wednesday that when Murray plays will be an "organizational decision" that will occur following conversations that involve the signal-caller, and Sean Leahy of Yahoo Sports wrote that the first overall pick of the 2019 draft "will likely not get into a game for a few weeks." That leaves journeyman Joshua Dobbs as Arizona's QB1 heading into this Sunday's matchup at the 3-2 Seattle Seahawks. 

From there, the 1-5 Cardinals face the Baltimore Ravens in Week 8 and the Cleveland Browns in Week 9. Barring a setback, Murray could return to the lineup to take on the Atlanta Falcons on Nov. 12. 

"Over the next few weeks, the Cardinals will have to find the balance between giving Murray the reps he needs to be ready for whenever he returns to game action while making sure Dobbs continues to get the necessary reps to be prepared for the upcoming games," Weinfuss added.

Weinfuss mentioned how Cardinals offensive coordinator Drew Petzing was the Browns' quarterbacks coach last season when Petzing had three weeks of practice to get Cleveland's Deshaun Watson ready to play as Watson finished the final few weeks of his 11-game suspension related to allegations of sexual misconduct during massage sessions. 

While Murray theoretically can return at any time with his 21-day practice window opened, it sounds like Arizona understandably won't rush him into action considering the club likely won't compete for much of note across the second half of the campaign. 

According to ESPN stats, Dobbs enters the weekend ranked 17th among qualified players with a 48.9 adjusted QBR on the season. He tossed six touchdown passes and only three interceptions over Arizona's first six games.