Arizona Cardinals QB Kyler Murray hoping to target WR Hollywood Brown, others more regularly

Raiders quarterback Derek Carr “recruited” Packers wide receiver Davante Adams, his good friend and college teammate at Fresno State, to join him this season in Las Vegas. In their first game together as pros, Carr threw to Adams a league-high 17 times last week against the Chargers and Adams responded with 10 receptions for 141 yards and a touchdown.

Though he insists he wants to spread the football around, those are the kind of numbers Cardinals quarterback Kyler Murray hopes to see out of wide receiver Marquise “Hollywood” Brown, his close friend and former college teammate at Oklahoma.

In their debut against the Chiefs, Murray and Brown hooked up just four times for 43 yards.

“It was solid,” Murray said. “I think we can do a better job of getting him the ball, moving him around and just making it tough for defenses. You watch around the league and you look at guys catching 10 plus balls a game and getting 10 plus targets a game. How do you get that? You’ve got to design it, scheme it up, and move them around, which is fixable.

“I think he had four catches or whatever, but it’ll get better.”

When Murray and the Cardinals meet the Raiders on Sunday at Allegiant Stadium, expect the quarterback to throw more passes in the direction of tight end Zach Ertz and wide receiver A.J. Green. Those two only had two receptions in the loss to Kansas City.

Ertz was still recovering from a calf strain and didn’t play a full game, but according to coach Kliff Kingsbury, the veteran pass catcher should be a full go for Sunday. Murray knows how much Ertz can help get Arizona’s offense on a roll.

“Just getting his legs back underneath him and having his savviness out there in the middle of the field,” he said. “With his knowledge of the game and his leadership, having him out there is definitely huge for us.”

For subscribers: What went wrong for Cardinals in loss to Chiefs

Watt returns to practice

After missing last week’s opener and more than a week of practice due to a strained calf, veteran defensive end J.J. Watt was back on the practice field on Thursday and has a chance to play against the Raiders.

“It was a good day of work, a good first day back out there and get some more tomorrow and go from there,” Watt said, adding of his possible availability against the Raiders, “I would imagine.”

After missing the final 10 games of the regular season last season upon suffering a major shoulder injury that required a tricky surgery and several weeks of rehab, Watt seemed to be having a great training camp and preseason until getting COVID and then suffering the calf injury.

“It’s very tough. You can’t stand it, but I’m glad it’s over and I’m very excited to get back on the field,” he said. “… I’m very much looking forward to coming out there with the boys and providing some energy and plays.”

The news wasn’t as good regarding another starting member of the defense, strong safety Jalen Thompson. He missed a second straight day of practice with a toe injury and his status for Sunday’s game is uncertain.

“He’s missed two days, so when you miss two days of football practice it’s always tough to come back and play at full speed on Sunday, so we’ll see about his tomorrow,” defensive coordinator Vance Joseph said.

Left guard Justin Pugh was back on the practice field Thursday after missing the opener with a neck issue and said he is optimistic about playing on Sunday.

“I feel good. It was good to get back out there,” Pugh said. “Last week I was able to get some plays under my belt (in practice) and see how the neck was feeling. It was feeling good last week but I just wasn’t all the way there. I need to get a full week of practice, get a padded practice under my belt and I felt really good today, so all signs point to getting out there.”

Pugh and watt were listed as limited participants Thursday along with cornerback Trayvon Mullen Jr. (toe), according to the official injury report. Not practicing for a second straight day in addition to Thompson were wide receivers Rondale Moore (hamstring) and Andy Isabella (back). Ertz was a full participant.

Four players missed practice for the Raiders for a second straight day – running back Brandon Bolden (hamstring), center Andre James (concussion), safety Tre’von Moehrig (hip) and linebacker Denzel Perryman (ankle). Cornerback Sam Webb (ankle) appeared on the injury report Thursday and was listed as limited.

The new side of Kyler Murray: Cardinals QB is going to give it to you straight, not sulk

Running back roundtable

The hierarchy of the Cardinals’ running back room starts with featured back James Conner. After that, it appears it’s going to be a running back-by-committee approach.

Eno Benjamin was the primary backup last week, but in this week’s depth chart, Darrel Williams is listed as the No. 2 running back along with Benjamin.

“Yeah, we’ll see who’s hot,” Kingsbury said. “Those guys can each do some different things really well, so we’ll just keep rolling. We feel really good about all of them. That’s why we kept five, but I thought Eno when he had his opportunity made some real nice plays and every time Darrel had his he’s been as confident as anybody. We’ll keep rotating those guys and I’m sure everybody would get more playing time as the season goes on.”

The plan was never to keep five running backs on the 53-man roster, but Kingsbury said Jonathan Ward and rookie draft pick Keaontay Ingram each deserved a spot.

“Yeah, I thought it would be four, too, and we saw ‘Key’ in practice and the preseason and how he kept coming and getting better and better, learning our protections and what he was able to do in the (last preseason game),” Kingsbury said. “He’s really been a nice surprise.”

Read more: Cardinals trying to fix 'operation' of defense after Week 1

Roster moves

The team has signed wide receiver Javon Wims to the practice squad and has released wide receiver JaVonta Payton from the practice squad.

Wims (6-4, 215) played 33 games (seven starts) with Chicago between 2018-20 and caught 28 passes for 266 yards and two touchdowns. He spent last season on the Raiders practice squad and was in training camp with the Browns this year. The 28-year old Wims entered the league with Chicago as a seventh-round selection (224th overall) in the 2018 NFL Draft from Georgia.

Have an opinion on the Arizona Cardinals? Reach McManaman at bob.mcmanaman@arizonarepublic.com and follow him on Twitter @azbobbymac. Listen to him live on Fox Sports 910-AM every Tuesday afternoon at 3:30 on Calling All Sports with Roc and Manuch. 

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This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Cardinals QB Kyler Murray hopes to get more targets to Hollywood Brown