TEMPE, Ariz. -- It was, for all intents and purposes, an innocuous text, one of many lost in the daily shuffle of rings, pings and buzzes.
When a group of Arizona Cardinals wide receivers, tight ends and running backs opened the message about a week after minicamp in June, they saw it was from quarterback Kyler Murray , asking if they would be around on various dates. After they all responded with their availability, Murray took care of the rest.
Wide receiver Zay Jones told ESPN that, before they knew it, those who could go received a full itinerary for a trip to Los Angeles in mid-July, just about a week before training camp started.
All expenses paid. All on Murray.
From July 7-13, a group of 12 -- wide receivers Marvin Harrison Jr ., Michael Wilson , Greg Dortch , Chris Moore , Andre Baccellia and Jones; former receiver Jeff Smith ; tight ends Trey McBride , Tip Reiman and Elijah Higgins ; and running backs James Conner and Trey Benson -- joined Murray in a mansion in Bel-Air and worked out together at UCLA, all with one goal in mind: To get on the same page.
Whether it worked will be seen Sunday, when the Cardinals begin the regular season against the Buffalo Bills at Highmark Stadium (1 p.m. ET, CBS) .
"When you talk about how we've been seeing the our relationship pay off now that season's here, I feel like it just makes it fun, because you're out there with your brothers, and I might have not felt like that last year, might have been a little bit more nervous, because I don't have the relationship with the guys that I have now," Wilson said. "But being out there with Kyler and G [Dortch] and Marvin, we're all just so close off the field that even in conditions [the torrential rain during the joint practice with the Indianapolis Colts ], it was fun."
THE GROUP MET at the Scottsdale airport, where they boarded a private jet bound for California. Awaiting them was a mansion with a pool, a room for massages and yoga and a room for each player.
"It was pretty sweet," Higgins said. "It was pretty sweet."
A masseuse was on call until about 2 a.m., and Murray hired a private chef for the group. Every day, cars picked up players at the house and shuttled them down the hill to a bus that was waiting to take them to UCLA, where they went through drills and on-field workouts for a few hours each day.
Murray also hired a security team to ensure the players were protected and knew where to go, and a maid service to keep the house clean.
"I don't think there's anything that he missed," Jones said. "Not the way I live, so like, I've never been a part of something like that.
"I was kind of blown away."
Moore said he couldn't find the right words to describe the week. It was clear to everyone in the house that Murray "spared no expense," Moore said.
"Kudos him for doing it," Higgins said. "I think Zay Jones said something along the lines of, 'Just because you can, doesn't mean you have to.' So, seeing him stepping into that role and going out of his way to do that for some of the guys on the team is super special. To be a part of it was super cool as well."
The other 21-or-so hours every day were spent bonding through hanging out in the pool, watching Netflix, exploring Los Angeles, playing ping pong or cards, shopping and eating out. Very few video games were played.
For the group's first dinner, Murray took everyone to Roscoe's Chicken and Waffles and they had the place to themselves.
"It was just nice, especially with your teammates, just to sit down there and have conversations over a good meal together," said Moore, who had the Obama Special, which is three wings and a waffle. "So, that part, for me personally, that's probably my favorite."
The ping pong table became the place to be in the house during downtime and quickly became an outlet for the players to flex their competitiveness.
"When I tell you, when you get a bunch of highly competitive men in one place, like we competed from the time we got up to the time we went to sleep," Wilson said.
Ping pong -- of which Wilson was crowned the champion -- was just the beginning. Anything that could be contested was: Who could catch the most passes? Who could do the most pushups? Who could run faster? Who can lift more?
"It just kind of gave college vibes," Wilson said. "Going to sleep at the same place as your teammates in a kind of not a super-structured environment, so boys could just be boys and just hang out, work out, play ping pong."
General manager Monti Ossenfort thought the trip was a "great bonding experience" for his players but, with his tongue firmly planted in his cheek, wasn't shy about saying he was jealous he wasn't invited.
Coach Jonathan Gannon is a firm believer that all the time the offense spent together away from the Cardinals' facility will help. And he loved that it was his quarterback who took the initiative to gather his skill players for a week away from distractions.
"I honestly think it's awesome what they did this offseason," Gannon said. "And they had some fun too. I asked them what they do when they weren't on the field and they had some fun. So, that's always good for those guys to see and get a little break and get away, but go to dinner together, have a little fun together, but put in the work together too. They know what's at stake."
THE TRIP TO Los Angeles was the culmination of Murray's offseason of camaraderie.
Throughout the offseason, Murray organized weekend passing sessions at local high schools, a trip with teammates to Oklahoma City for a Thunder game and a visit to Norman, Oklahoma. He and teammates checked out Murray's statue at the University of Oklahoma and got a few swings in at the Sooners' baseball field. He also went to an Arizona Diamondbacks game with another group of teammates.
"It's paid off very quickly," offensive guard Will Hernandez said. "If you think back, not even a couple months ago, guys were hanging out outside of the facility. We just talked about how Trey's blocking improved. We talked about how Jonah [Williams] and Evan [Brown] quickly adapted. All that stuff didn't just happen because we decided to go out on the field and do it.
"That's part of it, but most of it is those guys feeling the confidence, feeling the support of the rest of us, feeling like, 'Hey, we're counting on you, kind of deal.' But when you put it that way, after hanging out with these guys and having fun, it means a little bit more. So, it's definitely paid off. I already seen it, and it's only going to keep growing."
The LA trip was something that Murray felt he couldn't have organized earlier in his career, especially during his first season. As a 21-year-old, he entered a Cardinals' locker room full of older vets, most of whom had families, making it more difficult for them to leave town for a week.
This year's team skews younger. The average age of the group that went to L.A. was about 25.
"It's something I wanted to do," Murray, 27, said. "It goes back to having guys kind of my age that we can coordinate those things a lot easier.'
After missing last offseason while rehabbing an ACL injury in his right knee, Murray knew how important it was for him to bond with his teammates away from the structure of a team setting.
"I think it's an underrated thing, the camaraderie off the field, just loving each other, being together spending time together, getting to know each other," Murray said. "The teams that I've been on that have been the best, we were tight off the field, and it allows you to go harder for each other."
On the field, his injury prevented him from running anything with his teammates. They couldn't work on their timing or the nuances of a route, or even just be on the same field. It made the time in LA invaluable.
"Just hearing plays calls again, hearing how Kyler speaks, how he calls it, what he thinks, how he's viewing a defense, how he sees the route, timing, chemistry, camaraderie, laughing, joking, being serious, competing," Jones said. "Kind of anything you would expect from a team bonding together."
For the receivers, getting any extra time with Murray will directly improve their timing, the key to any thrower-catcher on-field relationship.
Harrison noticed a difference in the first few weeks of training camp.
"I think, definitely, you see the timing there," Harrison said. "I think that's always the biggest thing between a quarterback and receiver is just getting the timing down pat. He has to know my body language, know what I'm about to do before I do it."
The hope among all the players who went to L.A. is that spending that much time together produces a cohesiveness and camaraderie. Ultimately, though, Murray hopes all that turns into wins this season.
That, Murray said Wednesday, is what the Cardinals are about to see this weekend.
"Getting all those reps that we got, we may not have gotten if we didn't do those things off the field because the sense of urgency's there," Murray said. "We want to hit the ground running. We are not coming out this season, despite what everybody thinks or what they're saying, we know what we want to do in this locker room, so, in order to do that, you got to put the work in."
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