FLOWERY BRANCH — Quarterback Kyler Murray, a two-time Pro Bowl player, is set to make his return from right knee surgery Sunday against the Falcons.
Murray, who’s 5-foot-10 and 207 pounds, is the classic dual-threat quarterback.
He has completed 1,316 of 1,971 passes (66.8%) for 13,848 yards, 84 touchdowns and 42 interceptions in 57 games. He also has rushed 381 times for 2,204 yards and 23 touchdowns.
“I went against Kyler a couple of years ago up in Arizona, and it’s amazing when you get a chance to see how fast he really is,” Falcons assistant head coach/defense Jerry Gray said. “You can see it on tape, but once you see it in person, you’re like, ‘Whoa, this guy can really run.’”
Even though Murray is coming back from knee surgery, he has the Falcons’ full attention.
“One of the things that we tried to do and stress when I was in Green Bay, and we’re trying to do the same thing here, is you’ve got to stay in coverage,” Gray said. “And eventually, when you cross the line of scrimmage, that’s the only time you can come off because Kyler – really, really good athlete. ... He can make the deep throws.”
Murray also can flick the ball deep while on the run.
“We don’t want to come off our guy trying to make a tackle and all of a sudden, you give up a 60-yarder,” Gray said. “That’s one thing we don’t want.”
The Falcons are working on maintaining their rush lanes and not losing containment on Murray.
“Getting a sack on Kyler is not going to be getting him one-on-one in the backfield, I promise you that,” Gray said. “It’s not going to happen. You’re going to have to corral him, he’s going to run into a sack, he’s going to run into a couple of other guys, and that’s when you get sacks. It’s very rare to (get a) one-on-one, open-field tackle with a sack on Kyler Murray.”
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