Kyler Murray unfollows Cardinals on social media, scrubs them from his Instagram account

Speculation began to brew on Sunday night about Kyler Murray and his working relationship with the Arizona Cardinals after he unfollowed the team's Twitter and Instagram accounts. He also scrubbed Cardinals-related photos from his personal Instagram account.

That happened within hours after Murray played in the Pro Bowl at Las Vegas Raiders' Allegiant Stadium. He had game-highs among all six NFC and AFC quarterbacks as he threw three touchdowns, 160 yards on 18-of-27 completions, 104.0 passer rating with one interception.

The team's star quarterback previously had a litany of photos of himself in his Cardinals uniform on Instagram. But he's whittled that photo gallery down to just two photos of himself: one from his former Oklahoma Sooners college uniform when he won the Heisman trophy in Dec. 2018; and Sunday's Pro Bowl with his former college teammate and Dallas Cowboys wideout CeeDee Lamb. His Instagram account potentially could be under construction for more new photos as well.

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Murray still has Cardinals-related photos on his Twitter timeline. However, his avatar is an image of him in his Oklahoma and Oakland A's uniforms before became a Cardinal.

He hasn't indicated anything about being unhappy about the Cardinals in the press or on social media. But he took heat from the media for his playoff performance after Arizona was handed an embarrassing 34-11 loss at eventual NFC champion Los Angeles Rams in the Wild Card round on Jan. 17, their Cardinals' first postseason appearance since 2015.

The Cardinals went from a league-best 7-0 start before its mediocre season second-half finish at 11-7.

More:Arizona Cardinals' Kyler Murray slammed for NFL playoff performance vs. Los Angeles Rams

“I wouldn’t get into too much detail but just get better,” Murray told the Cardinals website editorial content director Darren Urban on Saturday. “I think there are a lot of things we all need to address individually. Team-wise we understand kind of what happened, how we get there. We’ve got to do it together. Obviously everyone has to work hard individually. When we come together we’ve got to be ready to go, because it doesn’t get any easier.

“We made strides throughout the three years I’ve been here but we haven’t reached that ultimate goal.”

After completing his third year, the former No. 1 overall pick Murray is eligible for a contract extension this off-season from his four-year rookie deal. If the Cardinals his contract's fifth-year option, he'll be locked in for two more seasons.

Murray was among five Cardinals in the Pro Bowl, including James Conner, D.J. Humphries, Chandler Jones, and Budda Baker. It was the first time he's played in the NFL's All-star game after last season's game was virtual because of COVID-19.

Murray would've likely been named the NFL All-star game's Offensive MVP as he led the NFC's comeback after it was down 41-21 entering the fourth quarter and chipped the lead to 41-35 until the AFC sealed its fifth consecutive victory within the final two minutes. But that award went to Los Angeles Chargers QB Justin Herbert and Raiders pass rusher Maxx Crosby earned Defensive MVP award honors, who were on the AFC's roster.

More:Arizona Cardinals' Kyler Murray deserves less blame for playoff loss to Los Angeles Rams

Note

Sports Illustrated reported Sunday that Cardinals offensive quality control coach Jim Dray has been hired as the Chicago Bears tight ends coach.

Have tips for us? Reach the reporter at dana.scott@azcentral.com or at 480-486-4721. Follow his Twitter @iam_DanaScott.

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