Eagles RB DeMarco Murray expected to play

Will be interesting to see who starts today in Philadelphia.

The Eagles have listed Murray as a game-time decision after he was listed as a full participant in practice late in the week.

It’s unclear exactly what Murray’s role will be today, based off of both the Eagles probably not wanting to rush him into a large role after he sustained what could be a nagging injury, and also based off of Ryan Mathews running for over 100 yards last week. This offseason, with the Cowboys electing not to offer Murray top dollar in comparison to his peers at running back, the Eagles ultimately offered him a five-year, $40 million contract that he inevitably signed. Ryan Mathews played well against the Jets in Week 3 and makes for a strong RB2 play in Week 4 if Murray sits. It still remains to be seen why the method was so successful against the Jets, was it an improved O-Line or was it just a big day from Mathews? “We’ll see how it goes”.

The problem is that in weeks 1&2, the team was running the ball out of the shotgun in order to benefit DeMarco Murray’s running style. Darren Sproles officially “started” for the Eagles last week before Mathews ended up with the majority of the rushing attempts.

Adding to the drama of whether or not Murray will play, is the possibility that the game might have to be moved from Washington due to Hurricane Joaquin. No player is greater than the team and you shouldn’t have to create your gameplan around one player. With windy playing conditions expected in Washington and the Eagles likely to rely on the run, this would seem like a missed opportunity for Murray and his fantasy owners.