Cardinals' Kyler Murray faces Patriots for 1st time since his ACL injury against them 2 years ago

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

Then another thought crossed his mind: It was the Patriots who were coming to town this Sunday for the first time since the injury.

“Yeah, it’s a little weird,” Murray said with a wry grin. "I will try not to have that happen again.”

The injury on Dec. 12, 2022, cost Murray roughly 11 months of his career, but he has been healthy this season. And now the Cardinals (6-7) are clinging to playoff hopes when they host the Patriots (3-10) on Sunday.

Both teams have lost three straight games. 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 are trying to move past a brutal 30-18 loss to NFC West rival Seattle which knocked them into a tie for last place in the tightly packed division.

Murray is coming off one of his worst games since the injury, throwing two interceptions that each eventually lead to touchdowns for Seattle. It was a rare blemish on an otherwise solid season — he has thrown for 2,862 yards, 15 touchdowns and eight interceptions.

Now the Cardinals are pretty much in must-win territory.

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

Defending Drake

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

Tightening against the run game is particularly important against 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 8.5 by Michael Vick in 2006, when he had 123 rushing attempts for 1,039 yards with Atlanta.

Maye's far from one-dimensional. He has thrown for at least 220 yards in each of the past three games, improving rapidly. The Patriots took Maye with the No. 3 overall pick out of North Carolina.

“Yeah, I think he’s grown since he’s been playing,” coach Jonathan Gannon said. “I think he’s playing probably his best ball right now, probably just because of the experience. So definitely his skillset jumps out. You can see why he was taken so high. He’s a good player and he is ascending.”

Strange development

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

Strange, who usually sports curly locks, returned from the Patriots’ bye week with a buzz cut. It could coincide with a possible switch to center after he was activated this week, making him eligible to see his first game action since suffering a season-ending knee injury in 2023.

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

Strange has been working at both left guard and center since he returned to practice Nov. 20 and could see his first NFL snaps at the latter position. Longtime Patriots center David Andrews had season-ending shoulder surgery in October. Ben Brown has started the last eight games at center.

Playing spoiler

Murray said the Cardinals can't take the Patriots lightly despite their mediocre record. He compared New England to where Arizona was at last season, when the team was out of the playoff race but playing some good football down the stretch.

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

Both players are Texas natives.

“We were kind of in a similar situation as them, then went on the road 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 go.”

Future glimpse

The Patriots have already been eliminated from playoff contention, but it didn’t stop Maye from spending part of his bye week watching matchups between teams that are still jockeying for postseason position.

The reason? He wanted to get a glimpse — even if from afar — of the common traits of the teams still playing meaningful games at this time of the season.

“Especially when you haven’t felt it,” Maye said. “I haven’t really experienced a playoff game. You always hear about what it’s been in the past here at the playoff games and the environment here in Gillette ... and watching Tom (Brady) and those guys duke it out. Those 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 guys haven’t.”

Maye hopes it serves as motivation going forward.

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

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AP Sports Writer Kyle Hightower contributed to this story.

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David Brandt, The Associated Press