Kyler Murray defends Marvin Harrison Jr. after disappointing debut: ''l never lose confidence in Marv'

Marvin Harrison Jr. had grandiose plans for his first professional football game, one he hoped would be filled with amazing catches, touchdowns and a victory for the Arizona Cardinals.

But as many players have found out over the decades, the NFL is rarely a fairy tale.

Harrison's pro debut turned out to be a snoozer. The No. 4 overall pick out of Ohio State had just one catch for 4 yards and was targeted only three times. To make it worse, the Buffalo Bills rallied for a 34-28 win over the Cardinals.

"Obviously, it wasn't great," Harrison said. "It definitely wasn't what I expected or what I wanted to happen, what the team wanted to happen."

The Bills had a lot to do with Harrison's quiet debut, paying much more attention to him on defense than a normal rookie receiver. He was double-teamed for a majority of the game, giving quarterback Kyler Murray little choice but to look for other options.

Murray said he wasn't worried about Harrison's lack of catches.

"Nothing changes," Murray said. "We've got the utmost confidence in what we're capable of doing. If you went back and watched the game, I think they did a good job of making sure he wasn't going to be single covered for the majority of the game.

"But I'll never lose confidence in Marv."

Second-year coach Jonathan Gannon had a similar response: "Yeah, he'll be fine. Marvin will be fine. He'll get back at it and go to work, but no one's going to put more expectation and pressure and or him wanting to do well than himself. He'll be perfectly fine."

Harrison's lack of production last Sunday called into question Gannon's decision to sit the rookie for the majority of the preseason. The receiver played one series in the first exhibition game against the Saints, but otherwise