Despite historically low 58-yard outing, Cardinals rally around Clayton Tune

Josh Weinfuss, ESPN Staff WriterNov 6, 2023, 06:00 AM ET
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CLEVELAND — About 30 minutes after his first NFL start had ended, rookie quarterback Clayton Tune stood in the corner of the visitor’s locker room deep underneath Cleveland Browns Stadium with cameras in his face and his every word recorded.

For one NFL Sunday, at least, Tune was the Arizona Cardinals‘ guy. And this was part of the job.

Over the next five minutes, Tune was asked about the Cardinals’ historic 27-0 loss and wasn’t fazed. He was, as his teammates described last week, cool, calm and collected — despite the Cardinals’ 58 offensive yards being the fewest by the franchise since Dec. 4, 1955.

Sunday could also end up being the only time Tune is in the spotlight like that this season.

With Kyler Murray‘s 21-day window to be activated to the 53-man roster set to close on Wednesday, Tune could potentially be one-and-done as a starter. There are three options for Murray: Get activated and play next Sunday against the Falcons, get activated and be added to the 53-man roster but not play, or he’s not activated and his season is over.

After the game, coach Jonathan Gannon was asked if Murray is set to return from the right ACL injury he suffered in December.

“I’m not thinking about that right now,” Gannon said.

And Tune didn’t know if he would get a chance next weekend.

“We’ll see,” he said. “Just go back, watch the tape, learn from it and, and assess and show up ready to work.”

The tape, however, won’t be pretty.

Tune’s first start came against one of the best defenses in football and the Browns lived up to the billing. They sacked Tune seven times and intercepted him twice. He also lost a fumble. Tune finished with 58 passing yards on 11-of-20 passing, but his seven sacks accounted for 41 lost yards. The Cardinals were also shut out for the first time since 2018.

“Give Cleveland credit,” Gannon said, “but, you lose the takeaway battle, you lose the explosive play battle, we get outscored by however many yards we got outscored by, you’re not gonna win.”

Tune was admittedly frustrated by the inability to get anything going and was also disappointed in the outcome. He shouldered the blame but half of his 20 throws were out in less than 2.5 seconds.

Not getting into a rhythm took a toll and whenever the Cardinals got something going, a penalty or a turnover curbed the progress.

“It looked like the pocket was breaking down,” Gannon said. “I gotta watch the tape, but it looked like his pocket was breaking down. When you get in a known pass against a really good defense, like they are, you’re swimming upstream.”

Added Gannon: “We couldn’t run it, couldn’t protect, couldn’t throw it. So, a lot of things you get cleaned up from [this] staff.

The run game took little off Tune’s plate. It accounted for just 41 total yards — with 28 coming from Tune. The other rushers — Keaontay Ingram, Rondale Moore and Tony Jones Jr. — had just 13 yards on the ground. However, they barely had time to run. On 21 of Arizona’s carries — five of which were by Tune — ball carriers were hit at or behind the line of scrimmage 11 times.

“Some of that’s on me, as well,” Tune said. “I gotta get the ball out quicker, I gotta find guys quicker. So, I don’t put that on other people. I’m gonna look at myself in the mirror first before I assess anything. I just gotta get the ball out a little quicker.”

Despite the numbers, despite the result and despite him taking the blame, Tune’s teammates walked away from Sunday impressed with how the rookie handled such a rough go.

“I thought for the circumstance that he was thrown into, I thought Clayton played really well,” tight end Trey McBride said.

Tune “fought his ass off,” left tackle D.J. Humphries said.

Tune’s leadership didn’t go unnoticed.

Wide receiver Marquise Brown believes Tune will “bounce back” whenever (or if) he gets another shot.

“I feel like he was good,” Brown said. “Like, he knew he made a mistake, he came to us. He’s not running from it, he’s not hiding from it and I respect him.”

Despite the offense’s performance, Gannon said every rep was an evaluation for Tune.

Regardless of what happens next for Tune this season, he thought getting his first start and getting live reps, seeing how concepts and coverages play out in real time and experiencing the speed of an NFL game was good for him.

“It’s a learning experience,” Tune said. “Obviously, wanted to have a better showing and win, but just learn from it and it’s good to get the first one out of the way.”