Vikings OC Wes Phillips confirms suspicion about QB Kyler Murray, and it leads to more questions about the future
One of the biggest issues with Kyler Murray has mostly gone unexplained, and Wes Phillips addressed it on Tuesday.
The issues that have plagued Minnesota Vikings quarterback Kyler Murray aren’t exactly consistent. First, it’s nothing is open, then struggling to attempt downfield throws, and now it’s his accuracy. No matter what week, it always feels like it’s something.
Not being able to put together a complete game has been an issue for the Vikings, and the offense has suffered for it. This past week, the biggest issue was inaccuracy, which cost the Vikings at least one touchdown drive.
Wes Phillips comments on Kyler Murray’s issues
The inaccuracy issues from Sunday’s 19-15 loss to the Detroit Lions wasn’t the only thing that went wrong for the starting quarterback, but it’s certainly one of the bigger ones. He only completed 17-29 passes and somehow still had a positive CPOE.
Vikings offensive coordinator Wes Phillips addressed the inaccuracy issue with an elegant yet simple answer: it’s football.
I think each individual play is its own, and you’re coaching each guy where his feet were, where were his eyes? [Were they] where we wanted them to be, and where he wants them to be? Was he playing the play in the way that it was coached or envisioned? And part of that’s making sure we have absolute clarity on on footwork,” said Phillips.
Among the inaccurate throws are some really impressive moments, including the seam routes to T.J. Hockenson and the deep post to Jordan Addison.
“He also made some made some accurate good football plays in that game and and again was able to use his legs a couple times to get us some yards there some some big plays there so it’s it’s it’s a play-by-play thing. I don’t think there’s some overarching, hey, this is the fix, which is generally the case in football.”
The really difficult question that many have been asking is simple: do the solutions exist on this roster? If you listen to head coach Kevin O’Connell, he has said multiple times that this offense is “close.” Phillips is of the same mindset, at least publicly.
“I’m absolutely confident. I see the football players that we have out there. I see opportunities within games to make plays and to be more explosive on offense and make those things happen,” said Phillips.
It’s a tough one for the Vikings, because Phillips and O’Connell are both right that the offense is close, because the film supports that. However, that only gets you so far and the answer to the question could end up making the difference between a possible Super Bowl run and a quick exit.
It’s time to figure it out.
