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Larry Fitzgerald: Kingsbury has Cards going 'faster'

Things are moving fast in the desert; just ask future Hall of Famer Larry Fitzgerald.

With the first Arizona Cardinals training camp under rookie head coach Kliff Kingsbury on the horizon, Fitzgerald has noticed through offseason practices just how quickly things are moving offensively.

"It's not so much what he's installing that stands out; it's how its run, the tempo of it," Fitzgerald said, via Robert Klemko of The MMQB. "Every single day, with more experience, we were able to run it faster and faster and faster, get more plays in more efficiently. The faster guys understand the concepts the more pressure we can put on defenses."

Fifteen seasons and 11 Pro Bowls into a storied career, Fitzgerald is under the tutelage of his third coach in three seasons.

Wild as that's been out west for a floundering Cardinals franchise, the soon-to-be 36-year-old Fitzgerald looks to be armed with optimism in regards to getting up to speed with Kingsbury's Air Raid offense.

However, while it's a wrinkle the Cardinals hope will vex opposing defenses, at the Cardinals' current stage, they're the ones trying to keep up as they take it all in.

"The language is simpler, but you have to process it faster," Fitzgerald said. "In this system, you're on the ball and you don't have an abundance of time to understand what's going on. You have to decipher and be able to play fast."

Perhaps unsurprising is one Cardinals player Fitzgerald points out is grasping the offense quickly.

Throughout the hype and process leading up to the 2019 NFL Draft, speculation about Oklahoma quarterback Kyler Murray going to the Cardinals was rampant in large part due to the notion that the QB would fit perfectly into Kingsbury's system. Early as it might be, that's what Fitzgerald's seen thus far with the No. 1 overall selection.

"I know him running [Oklahoma coach] Lincoln Riley's offense is very similar to what coach Kliff runs, but on the first day he's calling audibles and getting us in plays that are favorable to the offense," Fitzgerald said. "So I was really impressed by his ability to take a leadership position first day at the offense. I was impressed with how smart he is, how determined he is. His future is extremely bright."

Rookies are set to report to Cardinals training camp on Wednesday with the rest of the squad set for July 24. At least on offense, they'll be looking to quicken the learning curve when it comes to Kingsbury's system in the hopes of leaving defenses lagging behind.

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