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Josh Weinfuss
TEMPE, Ariz. — When Arizona Cardinals wide receiver Marvin Harrison Jr. takes the field at AT&T Stadium on Monday night against the Dallas Cowboys, his dad will be sitting at home, 1,500 miles away in Philadelphia, watching on TV.
That will be a struggle for the Hall of Fame wide receiver.
Any time Marvin Harrison Sr. turns on his son’s games, he sees an NFL that looks vastly different from the sport he left in 2008 after playing 13 seasons with the Indianapolis Colts. He sees a quarterback primarily in the shotgun, his son being moved around the field from wideout to the slot and back again, and motions from every direction.
He also sees a Cardinals offense that’s struggled to produce yards and points as it has slogged to a 2-5 record, heading into «Monday Night Football» on a five-game losing streak.
«It’s very hard for me to watch the Cardinals’ offense,» Harrison Sr. told ESPN. «And you can quote me on that.»
Kyler Murray is 24th in QBR at 44.1. Murray is ranked 29th in yards per attempt, 31st in yards per dropback and 33rd in yards per attempt while throwing six touchdowns and three picks in five starts.
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Jacoby Brissett will start a third straight game in place of Murray (foot) on Monday, but it’s possible Murray will see some action.
Harrison Jr. averages 56.6 receiving yards per game and has 40 targets over seven games, which is 54th, and he has just two touchdown catches. ESPN’s receiver score ranks him as the NFL’s 48th-best receiver — a notable improvement from 2024, when he ranked 93rd.
He is second on the Cardinals in targets and receiving yards per game behind tight end Trey McBride (66 targets, 60.1 yards per game).
When father and son talk on the phone, whether that’s a couple of days in a row or if weeks pass between calls, they typically stick to discussing Harrison Jr.’s younger brother, Jett, a high school sophomore at St. Joseph’s Prep School in Philadelphia who is in line to be the next great Harrison receiver. Or they don’t talk about football at all.
«It takes a lot of self-restraint and duct tape,» the family patriarch said. «I got to close my mouth and just don’t say nothing.»
Seattle Seahawks star Jaxon Smith-Njigba leads the NFL with 117 receiving yards per game and is tied for fourth with 70 targets, and New Orleans Saints wideout Chris Olave is fourth in receptions with 52.
Harrison Jr. has heard about their experiences, how they line up and what they get to do within their offenses.
«I feel like any kind of system can work if you have the 11 guys executing at a high level, whether that’s certain receivers getting maybe more targets than others,» Harrison Jr. said. «I think it all really still comes down to execution.
«I think you can still make it work, but you got to play the cards you’re dealt.»
Ja’Marr Chase because Chase, like Harrison Jr., was a top-five pick in 2021. That might be where the comparisons stop because of their respective situations.
They’re in different systems, in different offenses with different styles of quarterbacks. Joe Burrow was an MVP finalist last year. It led to Chase having the fourth-highest percentage of targets per route run, according to ESPN Research. Harrison Jr. is ranked 120th.
That’s not something Harrison Jr. can change on his own, but if he looks at his dad’s career, he knows he can take a lesson from how his dad approached targets — albeit a tad differently.
Harrison Sr. said he’d go in on a Monday morning after contributing 100 yards and two touchdowns and still complain to former Colts general manager Bill Polian and Manning that he wanted more.
«That’s how I am and that’s how my mentality is,» Harrison Sr. said. «That’s why I am who I am. That doesn’t point the finger at no one.
«That’s the attitude you have to have in this league.»
It’s one that Harrison Jr. is trying to adopt while being acutely aware that his personality is light-years from his father’s.
«Man, he’s like a church mouse,» Harrison Sr. said of his son.
Harrison Jr. never had to demand the ball in high school or college, so doing it in the NFL would be a detour from who he is on a daily basis.
Cardinals wide receivers coach Drew Terrell said Harrison Jr., who isn’t shy about calling himself quiet and reserved, isn’t one to seek out confrontation or disagreement. He doesn’t want to ruffle any feathers.
But Terrell is «absolutely» good with Harrison Jr. demanding the ball.
«You should be almost delusional in that you think you’re open all the time when you’re probably not, but ‘I don’t care, throw me that s— anyway,'» Terrell said. «Wideouts should all have that type of confidence.
«So, yeah, I got no issues if he’s pissed off about not getting the ball during the game.»
It would be easier if that trait had been inherited from his father, but Harrison Jr. said he’s working at being more assertive.
«I am not the first to say it, but [Harrison Sr.] demanded the ball a lot more than maybe I would have demanded the ball,» Harrison Jr. said. «I’m getting there. I think I’m trying to get there. Just how I go about it is a little different than he did.
«I’m in a different territory now. I don’t even know how to go about it, but I’m trying to figure it out and obviously just still do my part and do my job to the best of my abilities. But yeah, it’s tough.»
