Kyler Murray, DeAndre Hopkins Won't Play for Cardinals vs. 49ers with Injuries

The Arizona Cardinals will be without quarterback Kyler Murray and top receiver DeAndre Hopkins in Sunday's game against the San Francisco 49ers after both players were declared inactive.

Murray suffered a sprained ankle near the end of his team's 24-21 home loss to the Green Bay Packers on Oct. 28.

Bob McManaman of the Arizona Republic provided more information:

"Murray hurt his ankle during the Cardinals' second-to-last play of their final possession, which ended with Murray's pass in the end zone to A.J. Green being tipped and intercepted by Rasul Douglas. On the play before, a 3-yard run by Chase Edmonds, Murray got knocked down and a Green Bay defender fell on his leg."

"Yeah, I'm good," Murray said postgame. "The guy rolled up on me."

The injury is apparently severe enough to miss the Week 9 game.

Hopkins had been dealing with a hamstring injury since the last game and did not practice all week, leading to his current status.

A.J. Green is also out (reserve/COVID-19 list), but the Cardinals do have some depth at receiver to handle those absences, with Christian Kirk and Rondale Moore getting bigger workloads. Losing Murray is a much more significant story ahead of a divisional matchup.

Murray has completed 72.7 percent of his passes for 17 touchdowns and 8.9 yards per attempt. He's added 147 rushing yards and three scores.

The third-year pro out of Oklahoma was selected first overall in the 2019 NFL draft. He's started for the Cardinals during his entire three-year career as he's proved to be one of the NFL's most electric and entertaining talents.

The Cardinals struggled in each of his first two years, going 5-10-1 in 2019 before improving to 8-8 in 2020. However, the 2021 Cardinals have thrived, starting 7-0 before landing at their current 7-1 record.

Without Murray, the Cardinals will turn to Colt McCoy to lead the offense, with Chris Streveler serving as the backup.

The 34-year-old McCoy has played for the Cleveland Browns, San Francisco 49ers, Washington Football Team, New York Giants and Cardinals during a career that began in 2010. He entered this season completing 60.7 percent of his passes for 30 touchdowns (28 interceptions) and 6.5 yards per attempt.