Nick Piccone
We mentioned in the Morning Brew that DeMarco Murray was quoted after the game saying he wasn’t getting the ball enough and that he knew what he signed up for but he expected to see the ball more.
“Do I think I’m touching the ball enough?” he said, repeating a question that was posed to him as he stood at his locker.
“No, I don’t think I am. But that’s how the plays have been called. I love this offense and I love playing with these guys, but that’s just how it is.”
“As players, we’re here for a reason,” Murray said. “We’ve got to get more opportunities. We’ve got to get the ball in playmakers’ hands and just let them play and have fun.”
Murray was asked if he knew what he was getting into when he left Dallas to sign here.
“I knew what I was coming in here to do,” he said. “I knew that I was going to be the lead guy and (Darren) Sproles and (Ryan) Mathews were two great backs, and in this offense a lot of guys touch the ball, that’s how they run the offense.”
Asked how many carries per game he expected, Murray answered: “I don’t know. I have no idea.”
But more than this? “Yeah.”
He’s right. Through three games this season, excluding the Jets game that he missed with a hamstring injury, Murray’s gotten 29 carries for 47 yards to go along with 11 receptions for 76 yards. When the Eagles signed him, and signed Ryan Mathews right after Murray, nobody thought Murray would replicate his touches from last year in Dallas.
I don’t necessarily blame Murray for his poor start. The offensive line really is offensive, and it’s ridiculous that Chip hasn’t given Murray the ball more when he’s shown flashes of brilliance. Is it a message he’s sending to Murray? Is Murray supposed to overcome the offensive line’s failures to make them into his successes?
If that’s what Chip wants, he’s likely not going to get it. He clearly doesn’t value the offensive line the way Andy Reid did – and that directly attributed to Donovan McNabb’s success because he was given so much time. Sam Bradford can’t even run a read option because he’s immobile, which puts even more pressure on the running backs to get yards.
It really can’t work that way in the NFL. We’ve seen as much the last two years when Chip’s had an immobile quarterback behind center. His offense really starts there. Without that threat of a quarterback running, defenses have zoned in on Murray. Sproles and Mathews were able to get to the hole the offensive line was barely able to create against the Jets, ostensibly because they’re smaller and quicker. This offensive line doesn’t seem built for Murray… or really anyone at this point.