DeMarco Murray was already off to a slow start. Now, he’s even slower.
According to Reuben Frank of CSNPhilly.com, the Eagles running back left practice early Wednesday because of a hamstring injury, and was listed as limited on the injury report.
It’s fair to say Murray hasn’t looked like himself so far this season, after gaining 11 yards on 21 carries in his first two games. That 0.52 yards per carry average is 4.19 yards per carry off his 2014 pace, when he gained 1,845 yards on 392 carries for the Cowboys.
And if he’s going to improve on that this week, he’s going to have to do so against a Jets defense which ranks first in the league in points allowed (although just 14th in rushing yards allowed).
The Eagles’ 35 yards per game as a team is the seventh-worst by any team after two games in the last 50 years.
“DeMarco’s a great player, but I think that we also have two [other] great backs who can get the job done,” center Jason Kelce said, referring to Ryan Mathews and Darren Sproles. “Bottom line is, whoever is carrying the ball behind us, we have to do a better job up front blocking. As long as we can take care of the line of scrimmage and do what we need to do, we can make hay in the run game.”
It would be nice of them to start any time now, although Murray’s condition may prevent that.