DeMarco Murray is dealing with a badly sprained knee and will not be available in the Titans’ crucial Week 17 contest, Ian Rapoport of NFL.com reports (on Twitter).
Tennessee’s starting running back is dealing with the most severe of MCL tears, and while he initially expressed optimism he could play through it against the Jaguars, the Titans are going to rest him Sunday. The Titans, however, will not place Murray on IR, Terry McCormick of TitanInsider.com tweets.
The Titans will lean on Derrick Henry for ground support in hopes of advancing to their first AFC playoff bracket in nine years. Henry’s been a bigger part of the offense in his second season than he was in 2016, and Murray’s numbers have declined as well. But the team refusing to place its starting back on IR indicates it is at least considering a healthy Murray-Henry setup taking the field in a playoff game.
Murray suffered the knee injury in Week 16. He will finish his second Titans season with more than 600 fewer rushing yards (659) than he amassed last year in a Pro Bowl campaign. The seventh-year runner’s yards-per-carry figure (3.6) is also nearly a yard off his ’16 pace.
Tennessee faces a win-and-in scenario against a Jaguars team that is already locked into the AFC’s No. 3 seed, so prospects are encouraging for the Titans to end that lengthy playoff drought. Henry is averaging 4.7 yards per tote and leads the team with 693 rushing yards.
Good thing Derrick Henry is having an arguably better season
Not arguably, he is having a better season.