Minnesota Vikings cornerback Patrick Peterson said Thursday that he has no beef with former Arizona Cardinals teammate Kyler Murray.
Yet Peterson’s attempt at cooling things down publicly after his comments about Murray on his own podcast a day prior included more pointed criticism at the quarterback.
“What I meant by my comment was, when you’re a franchise quarterback, you have to carry yourself a certain way,” Peterson said Thursday, according to The Athletic’s Alec Lewis. “So when you have bad body language, pouting and moping on the sideline, what type of energy do you think that feeds to your teammates? That’s what I meant by, ‘Kyler cares about himself.’ He’s not putting team first.
“I didn’t mean any disrespect in any fashion,” Peterson continued. “And I might not be his mentor, but these are the tips I think can help him be a better football player in the long run.”
Patrick Peterson explained the comment he made about Kyler Murray. He also said today he asked a former teammate for Murray’s number and sent the number a text but hadn’t spoken yet with Murray directly. pic.twitter.com/feb6HHe4ua
— Alec Lewis (@alec_lewis) December 1, 2022
He added Murray’s “mannerisms are alarming.”
Peterson said he has attempted to get in touch with Murray after getting the quarterback’s phone number from a former teammate.
On his All Things Covered podcast released Wednesday, Peterson criticized general manager Steve Keim and said head coach Kliff Kingsbury will be the team’s scapegoat for the down season.
He criticized Keim and the Cardinals for firing Kingsbury’s predecessor, Steve Wilks, after only a season — though it should be noted Peterson asked to be traded midseason under Wilks’ watch in 2018.
While Peterson said he was speaking on how Murray carries himself, the context from his podcast was about the quarterback’s relationship with his embattled head coach amid a 4-8 season so far.
The conversation stemmed from Peterson’s co-host, Bryant McFadden, who touched on Murray’s comments about a singular play. After a 25-24 loss to the Los Angeles Chargers on Sunday, Murray told reporters afterward that the Cardinals were “(explicit)’d schematically” on a fourth-down attempt that he threw an interception on.
McFadden said that comment reflected poorly on Kingsbury’s job security.
“I don’t like how he’s doing that, I think he should do it privately — but it tells me he doesn’t care about his head coach,” McFadden said.
“Kyler Murray doesn’t care about nobody but Kyler Murray,” Peterson responded. “That’s just the matter of fact.”
Murray responded on Twitter: “(Peterson) you got my number, if you really felt like this as a ‘big bro’ or ‘mentor’ you supposed to call me and tell me, not drag me so your podcast can grow.”
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