TEMPE, Ariz. -- Almost two-and-a-half seasons into his NFL career, it's become commonplace to watch Arizona Cardinals quarterback Kyler Murray evade a would-be sack, juke a defender one way, scramble the other, avoid a tackle, stop on a dime and make a play.

It's art. It's highlight worthy. It's Instagramable.

Murray, the Cardinals' 24-year-old star in the making, makes plays like that look easy.

But what's it like for the offensive lineman in front of Murray to block for him on those types of plays?

"I never really know what's going on until the ball is in the air," left tackle D.J. Humphries said. "I'm just running around. Just keep blocking. That's what it's like for me. I know if we're still moving, he's still back there doing something, so I just need to just grab my guy, hold on to him or run around with him."

Murray takes nearly two seconds longer to pass when he's outside the pocket (4.55 seconds) compared to staying inside the pocket (2.48), according to ESPN Stats & Information. That's a significant increase for an offensive lineman in the midst of a game. And it's not like they're only doing it a few times a game. Murray is throwing outside the pocket on 20.8% of his attempts.

His accuracy outside the pocket in 2021 has been 50%.

With the play unfolding behind them, the Cardinals' offensive line often finds itself figuring out what Murray is doing by watching the defensive linemen they're blocking, said center Rodney Hudson.

"Their head is like this, like that, changing direction every other step and I'm like, 'Alright,'" Humphries said. "Then the crowd goes crazy and that's usually how it happens -- it's a bomb down the field -- let's me know something happened."

Blocking for Murray has forced the Cardinals' offensive lineman to change how they've approached the position their entire careers. One of the first things offensive line coach Sean Kugler teaches his linemen about blocking for Murray is they can't have a clock in their heads. When blocking for more traditional drop-back passers, linemen know a pass will come out within so many seconds. That's not the case with Murray.

"The ball is out when you see the ball in the air," Kugler said. "You got to continue to block because he is going to create, he is going to move around, he is going to try to extend plays, and I don't think that's any added pressure for us.

"You just got to do your job better and you got to do it a little bit longer and that's fine."

Added center Max Garcia: "Just keep playing ball until the whistle blows."

Left guard Justin Pugh started blocking for Murray in 2019, Pugh's second season in Arizona. Prior to that, Pugh had never played in front of a quarterback who could move like Murray.

"I used to block for like the complete opposite of Kyler in Eli Manning," said Pugh, who played for the New York Giants from 2013 to 2017. "So, blocking for Kyler is way different. Both great quarterbacks. I'm not trying to take a shot. Eli's my guy. But it's much different and it's something you had to get used to."

For Josh Jones, who started six games at right guard and two at right tackle this season, blocking for Murray has been a continuation from his time at the University of Houston, where he blocked for two mobile quarterbacks, Greg Ward and D'Eriq King.

"I'm kind of used to it," Jones said.

"As long as you keep your man off of Kyler, we have the opportunity to be really great."

Pugh called Murray a "magic eraser" because of how often he gets out of trouble on his own.

When Murray first arrived in Arizona, Humphries said he never knew where he was scrambling around in the backfield. Humphries started to notice if he missed a block, Murray would evade the pending sack, and Humphries would think, "Whoa, OK. Alright, we're still blocking, the play is still going. So, it's one of those things that we learn how to deal with it because he might get us into something but more times than not, he's gonna get us out of it."

Arizona's offensive line sees it every day in practice, especially when the Cardinals' first-team offense faces the first-team defense. That's prepared them for it happening in games. But, even then, Murray's scampering gets the best of the linemen.

There's a fine line that offensive linemen walk between blocking the man in front of them and not holding on too long which could result in a penalty when blocking for Murray -- or any mobile quarterback, for that matter.

That happened to Jones against the Cleveland Browns in Week 6. Murray had an 8-yard touchdown run negated by a holding penalty on Jones. But Murray had a piece of advice for Jones: "Let him go." That approach, however, has been more costly for Murray. He's being touched on 15% of plays outside the pocket compared to 7% inside.

With Murray's speed, though, that's a risk he's willing to take.

"The dude is fast," Jones said of Murray. "He's going to blow past those d-lineman. Let him go. Let him go. So, that's what he told me and that's what I'm going to do. Let him go and if I feel like any type of tension like he's close, let him go. He's going to outrun them."