The Dallas Cowboys chose to let their starting running back Demarco Murray leave after he won the Nfl Rushing Title. The idea was that he was not worth the big money contract he wanted as he got older. However, after one season struggling on a very poorly coached Philadelphia Eagles team, Murray joined the Tennessee Titans and was one of the top running backs again in 2016.
At the OTAs this week, DeMarco Murray was seen walking around with a cast on his right hand. It turns out that Murray needed surgery on his right finger and will miss the rest of the Tennessee Titans OTA practices.
The surgery was to repair a lingering issue for DeMarco.
DeMarco Murray's injury
According to DeMarco Murray, he came into the offseason with the lingering finger injury and believed that it would heal on its own. However, he said they it did not heal as expected and the Tennessee Titans figured he should have the surgery now to eliminate future issues. Murray said that the surgery was minor and he would be playing right now if there were a game using a cast.
The injury came in the Sept. 18 game against the Detroit Lions. That was the second game of the season and DeMarco Murray ran for his first 100-yard game of the season one week later against the Oakland Raiders. Murray then followed that up with five straight games where he ran for over 20 carries each game for the Titans.
Despite the finger injury, DeMarco Murray finished the season by running for 1,287 yards, the third-best in the NFL behind only Jodan Howard and Dallas Cowboys' rookie Ezekiel Elliott. The Tennessee Titans missed out on the winning the AFC South by losing a tiebreaker to the Houston Texans and missed the playoffs by losing a tiebreaker to the Oakland Raiders.
DeMarco Murray in 2017
Big things are expected of DeMarco Murray in 2017. The Tennessee Titans improved drastically in 2016 and look to be even better in 2017. Some NFL experts have predicted that Murray will be the strongest rival to Ezekiel Elliott when it comes to the NFL rushing title next season. This is despite splitting carries with former Heisman Trophy winner Derrick Henry.
Despite the pedigree of Henry, DeMarco Murray is still the workhorse for the Tennessee Titans. In 2016, Murray ran the ball 293 times compared to 110 for Henry. Their average-per-carry were about the same and Henry scored five touchdowns in fewer carries compared to Murray's nine scores. Titans coach Mike Mularkey said that the surgery should have no effect on DeMarco in 2017.
