Arizona Cardinals quarterback Kyler Murray knows that the Green Bay Packers are great at forcing turnovers.
Murray wants to avoid becoming the next quarterback to throw an interception to Packers safety Xavier McKinney.
“I’m not out there playing scared or anything like that, but we understand going into this game that that’s something that they do well,” Murray said.
The Packers (3-2) lead the NFL with 14 takeaways. McKinney has intercepted passes in each of Green Bay’s first five games.
He’s on a streak of six straight games with a pick, starting from the last week of the 2023 season when he played for the New York Giants.
Green Bay just won 24-19 against the Los Angeles Rams, where McKinney recovered a fumble and intercepted a pass in back-to-back plays, both leading to touchdowns for the Packers.
“If I’m soaking in, ‘Oh, I did this,’ that ain’t going to help us as a team and as a defense,” said McKinney, who was named NFC defensive player of the week.
“I’m just trying each and every week, if I do something, celebrate it for 24 hours and then we’re on to the next.”
The Cardinals (2-3) want to stay focused and not dwell on their recent 24-23 win against San Francisco.
Murray and James Conner rushed for a total of 169 yards against the 49ers. Now they face a Packers defense that allowed 134 rushing yards to the Rams, with Kyren Williams gaining 102 of those.
Packers coach Matt LaFleur praised Murray’s ability to evade defenders, noting he rushed for 83 yards on seven carries against San Francisco.
“We showed the guys a bunch of clips of him just making multiple defenders miss in the pocket and his ability to create and extend plays and make those off-schedule, chunks down the field,” LaFleur said. “He’s extremely dangerous. He’s probably playing as good as he’s ever played.”
