Eagles running back DeMarco Murray and owner Jeffrey Lurie had a lengthy conversation Sunday about Murray’s role in head coach Chip Kelly‘s offense, ESPN’s Ed Werder reports. Though the Eagles pulled a 35-28 upset in New England, Murray was barely a factor – taking the field for just 14 plays and totaling 24 yards on eight carries – and he voiced his frustrations to Lurie afterward as a result. Their conversation happened on the team’s flight home, according to Werder, who adds that it’s unknown who initiated the talk.
“He’s obviously upset about what happened,” a source close to Murray told Werder.
Murray, who led the NFL in rushing last year with Dallas and then signed a big-money deal with the Eagles in the offseason, has struggled mightily under Kelly. The two-time thousand-yard rusher has just 569 this season on a paltry 3.5 per-carry average, and has been outproduced by teammate Ryan Mathews – who signed a much less valuable contract with Philly in the offseason. Mathews missed the Patriots game because of a concussion, but Murray still had to take a backseat to Darren Sproles, who accrued 90 yards on 19 touches.
“We are not trying to win a rushing championship or a passing championship or a receiving championship or anything from that stretch of the imagination,” Kelly said Monday. “We are just trying to win football games.”
More from the NFC:
- Like Murray, Packers running back Eddie Lacy has also had a disappointing season – one that reached a low point last week. Lacy finished with a mere 1 yard on six touches in the Packers’ 27-23 win over the Lions after Mike McCarthy demoted him for missing curfew the night before, but the coach said Tuesday that the third-year man will have a chance to win back his starting role. “If Eddie or any other player wants to jump up and grab that opportunity, it’s right in front of them,” McCarthy stated, according to ESPN’s Rob Demovsky. McCarthy added that he thinks the demotion rejuvenated Lacy.
- The Falcons’ offense has hit the skids during their descent from 5-0 to 6-6, but quarterback Matt Ryan spoke favorably of coordinator Kyle Shanahan on Tuesday. “Our production hasn’t been there, but in terms of plays and all that kind of stuff, I feel really good about how Kyle and I have worked together this year,” Ryan said on 680 The Fan, per D. Orlando Ledbetter of the Atlanta Journal Constitution. “Kyle’s is a little bit different from the guy’s that I’ve worked with in the past. With that said, I feel really good about it. I feel like he’s going to be a guy that I can learn a ton from. I believe we’re going to win a lot of games together.”
- Having landed on injured reserve, tight end Martellus Bennett‘s time with the Bears could be up, ESPN’s Jeff Dickerson writes. Dickerson believes the Bears should try to trade Bennett, who has one year left on his contract and is looking for a more lucrative one – which the team is unwilling to give him. In the event they’re unable to find a taker, the Bears could release Bennett and save over $5MM on their cap in 2016.
It sounds like murray is the cancer in the locker room. Time to move on, he doesnt fit the offense like everone thought he would. Trade him during the draft to move up or for a second rounder!
He is underperforming on a big contract. In this NFL thy’d be lucky to get a 6th rounder for him.
Further evidence to not spend big on running backs. But the red flags were clear on Murray, with those 495 total touches last year. It was entirely predictable, based on history, that he couldn’t come close to matching that or the production.