Arizona Cardinals QB Kyler Murray (ankle) feeling 'way better,' hopes to play Sunday at Carolina

TEMPE, Ariz. --Arizona Cardinals quarterback Kyler Murraysaid he hopes his sprained left ankle will be healthy enough for him to play Sunday against the Carolina Panthers.

"I think it's day by day," Murray said Wednesday. "I think we've got a great plan. I feel way better than I did when I talked to you last time, so, I think that's a plus and I'm excited."

Murray said he did not practice Wednesday, although the Cardinals went through a walk-through instead of a full-fledged practice, making that four practice days in a row that he's missed. However, Murray said he feels like he's been improving daily.

"I think I made crazy strides as far as in a positive direction since it happened," he said.

Murray missed Sunday's 31-17 win over the San Francisco 49ers, the first time he has missed a game in his NFL career. He said he wasn't quite sure what to do before the game, knowing he wasn't playing.

"My operation before the game, I didn't really know what I was doing," Murray said. "It was different. I kind of pride myself on not missing games. I can probably count on one hand my whole career, my whole life, how many games I've missed, so it's definitely different.

"It wasn't not fun, but obviously my guys have my back the way they handled our business and it was fun to watch and see them succeed."

Last week, Cardinals coach Kliff Kingsbury said he felt confident in Murray playing after not practicing. Murray said that he doesn't necessarily need practice reps to play, but not getting too many can make him feel like he's "getting away from it in a sense."

"But I think I'm one of those guys that's able to kind of hone in and not be able to do that for maybe some time and get back out there and still play at a high level," Murray said. "I think, obviously, for anybody, those reps are crucial, but I'm pretty confident in when I do come back that I'll be fine."