Philadelphia Eagles running back and prized free agent addition DeMarco Murray took time to get up to speed this season. In fact, Murray's output over the first three games - 29 carries, 47 yards, one touchdown - was so abysmal, that many begun to wonder whether the Eagles, now under the personnel guidance of head coach Chip Kelly, hadn't made a massive mistake in bringing the former leading rusher in the NFL onboard.
Now, with Murray having put together a few weeks of quality output - 20 carries, 83 yards, one touchdown against the New Orleans Saints, 21 carries, 112 yards, one touchdown against the New York Giants, 18 carries, 65 yards against the Carolina Panthers - concerns over his fit in Philly's inside/outside zone blocking scheme have lessened somewhat.
And taking into account Eagles offensive coordinator Pat Shurmur's comments on Wednesday, we may have a better idea of just why it was that Murray seemed to struggle getting up to speed at the start of the year.
"When you talk about DeMarco specifically, he's much healthier now than he was early in the season, so we anticipate that he'll make better runs than he did early," said Shurmur, via Tim McManus of Philly Mag.
Shurmur didn't shy away from the comments about Murray's health when pressed on the subject by reporters, but he wouldn't expand when asked if injuries were keeping the big back from excelling.
"I wouldn't say that," Shurmur said, per McManus. "He's healthier now though. He was healthy enough to play when he played...He's healthier now. He's feeling better."
It's interesting to hear and potentially very good news for Eagles fans that Murray's early-season struggles could maybe be explained away by injury. Murray did spend quite a bit of the offseason shuffling in and out of the practice lineup due to "hydration levels" and maintenance days for a player who had garnered almost 400 carries the year prior. Murray also sat out the Eagles game against the New York Jets with a hamstring strain.
There's really no telling whether or not Murray was hampered, but if he's able to continue the kind of play he managed against the Giants and breakout in the second-half of the season that would certainly seem to be something like evidence that Murray wasn't quite right through the first few weeks.
And while some in and around Philadelphia have suggested that fellow free agent pickup Ryan Mathews has proven to be a better fit in the Eagles running game thanks to a handful of strong performances and big runs, there's no telling how well Mathews would perform were he to take on a larger role and be forced to operate as the No. 1 back and not a change up to Murray.
