Philadelphia Eagles running back DeMarco Murray is frustrated.

Murray, who broke the Dallas Cowboys single season rushing record in 2014, hasn’t had nearly the same success on his new team. Signed to a five-year, $42 million deal in the offseason and expected to be a huge part of the club’s offense, Murray has struggled in Chip Kelly’s offense, averaging a career-worst 3.5 yards per carry, with only four touchdowns.

After seeing the field for just 14 snaps on Sunday, Murray went to Eagles owner Jeffrey Lurie to address some issues with his role, according to Ed Werder of ESPN.

Murray has more than twice as many carries as any other running back on the roster, but saw his role largely diminished in the win over New England, leading many to suggest he has been officially demoted by Kelly. Of those 14 snaps in the Eagles 35-28 win over the Patriots, Murray carried the ball only eight times (24 yards), while Darren Sproles ran it 15 (66 yards) and Kenjon Barner ran it nine times (39 yards), including key touches on the clinching drives.

Kelly told Phil Sheridan of ESPN that Murray was getting fewer snaps because the entire offense got fewer snaps.

“That lack of (offensive) snaps is usually because we haven’t been productive offensively. It’s just because our defense was scoring and our special teams were scoring. We’ll take it any time we can, but it was a different game from that standpoint.”

While that may be true, Murray’s percentage isn’t what it was in Dallas—where he had nearly 100 percent of the carries—or what he expected when going to Philly. That said, Murray hasn’t exactly earned a bigger role on the club, contract or not. The Eagles showed they could win without him handling a bulk of the carries on Sunday, and Chip Kelly is right to run with the hot hand each week, not the guy making the most money.

What fallout from Murray going to ownership will remain to be seen, but it’s hard to imagine him staying with the Eagles after this year, especially if his carries continue to dwindle.

 

About Liam McGuire

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