Steelers' Patrick Peterson shares big take on Cardinals' Kyler Murray

Pittsburgh Steelers cornerback Patrick Peterson had quarterback Kyler Murray as a teammate with the Arizona Cardinals during the 2019 and 2020 seasons, and that experience has Peterson believing that Murray is returning to form coming off the ACL surgery that included some meniscus repair the 26-year-old underwent in January. 

"It looks like he's starting to get back in his old ways," Peterson said about Murray on Friday, per Brooke Pryor of ESPN. "It looks like he's starting to get back into his groove." 

Murray, who is still clearing physical and mental hurdles, has thus far completed 66-of-107 passes (61.7%) for 719 yards with two touchdowns and two interceptions across three games this season. He also rushed for 86 yards and three scores on 14 carries over those outings. 

As of Friday afternoon, oddschecker listed the 2-10 Cardinals as 5.5-point underdogs for Sunday's game at the 7-4 Steelers. Peterson understands Murray won't make life easy for the hosts at Acrisure Stadium. 

"He's definitely is a unique talent," Peterson said about Murray. "There's no question about that. He does a great job of creating extra time for his receivers down the field. He does a really, really good job of avoiding those free blitzes." 

Per NBC, Murray is one of the shortest quarterbacks in the NFL at 5-foot-10. That reality forces the first pick of the 2019 draft to get creative during games, but Peterson is ready for such tactics. 

"We have to do a really good job of standing our feet because he is a little guy, so you can't jump, you can't go to for pump fake," Peterson added. "So we have to make sure that we stay grounded when we do have an opportunity to sack him in the pocket. So he has a very, very good deep ball. We know that they love, they love to boot him and to run that snake-post option."

The Steelers have a short week following Sunday's action, as they host the New England Patriots (2-9) next Thursday night. While Pittsburgh has what are, on paper, two winnable games ahead, the club can't afford to look past any opponent as it attempts to keep pace with the first-place Baltimore Ravens (9-3) in the AFC North race.