Shurmur: Eagles Now Have A “Healthier” DeMarco Murray

Pat Shurmur pointed to health when asked about DeMarco Murray‘s production.

The question was specifically about Murray’s limited effectiveness on outside zone runs. While offering an explanation, the offensive coordinator seemed to reveal a little more than he realized.

“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.

So Murray’s health was holding him back?

“I wouldn’t say that. He’s healthier now though. He was healthy enough to play when he played…He’s healthier now. He’s feeling better.”

Murray was in and out of practice for the better part of the summer. He was held back on the first day of training camp because of “hydration levels” and missed at least parts of several training sessions thereafter. Chip Kelly ultimately explained that they were just managing the reps of a back coming off season in which he carried the ball 392 times, though there were whispers that there may have been more to the story.

After managing just 11 yards in his first two games, Murray was held out of the Jets game with a hamstring strain.

Kelly cited injuries when asked why Ryan Mathews has had fewer carries than Murray through seven games despite being the more productive back. Given that Murray has been hurt as well, that explanation holds less water.

In other injury news: Jason Peters and DeMeco Ryans took the practice field without their helmets Wednesday. Shurmur said that he is “hoping to” have Peters for Sunday night.

Nelson Agholor appeared to be practicing for the second straight day.

“I think so,” said Shurmur, asked if he expected the rookie to have a bigger impact over the second half. “Much like you saw Jordan [Matthews] a year ago. And Nelson has been dealing with an injury as well which may slow things down just a touch. But we feel like the second half of the year is going to be good for him once he gets back on the field.”