12/7/2015 10:06:37 AM
DeMarco Murray was demoted Sunday against the Patriots and it's difficult not to view the decision in the prism of the Eagles coach sending a clear message, Jeff McLane of the Philadelphia Inquirer reports. Not only did Kelly cut severely into Murray's playing time, but he also benched the underperforming Miles Austin for rookie Jonathan Krause.
The Eagles toppled the mighty Patriots, 35-28, more so because of special teams and their defense. Less of Murray and Austin played only a minor role in the victory. But when the $40 million running back receives fewer carries than a journeyman who had zero rushes through the first nine games, and the end result was a victory, there had to be some kind of cause and effect.
"Every week is an evaluation. Every week is you get an opportunity to show us what you can do," Kelly said. "We brought Jonathan Krause in there for a reason. We thought he was a really good player. We brought him up for a reason, too. It wasn't just, 'Let's reward a guy.' "
But Krause, who was called up from the practice squad before the Lions game, wasn't the story. He had one catch for 4 yards - probably one more than Austin had he played. It was that Sproles and Barner injected some life into a ground game - just as Ryan Mathews had done previously - that has been woefully inconsistent with Murray as the primary ballcarrier.
Kelly said he started the 5-foot-6, 190-pound Sproles and featured the 5-9, 195-pound Barner early because they are smaller and shiftier than the 6-foot, 217-pound Murray. Sproles and Barner said they did not know going into the game that they would be used more.
"It's as big a group of linebackers as you're going to face," Kelly said. "And then we just kind of - as the game expressed itself - [went] with the hot hand. And we used all three. DeMarco had a big run on the inside zone on that 13-play drive."
Murray's 19-yard fourth- quarter tote advanced the Eagles into the red zone. They scored a touchdown three plays later. But that carry was an anomaly. Murray's seven other rushes netted just 5 yards.
"You always want an opportunity to play and obviously run the ball," Murray said, "but we got the victory, so that's all that matters."
DeMarco Murray was demoted Sunday against the Patriots and it's difficult not to view the decision in the prism of the Eagles coach sending a clear message, Jeff McLane of the Philadelphia Inquirer reports. Not only did Kelly cut severely into Murray's playing time, but he also benched the underperforming Miles Austin for rookie Jonathan Krause.
The Eagles toppled the mighty Patriots, 35-28, more so because of special teams and their defense. Less of Murray and Austin played only a minor role in the victory. But when the $40 million running back receives fewer carries than a journeyman who had zero rushes through the first nine games, and the end result was a victory, there had to be some kind of cause and effect.
"Every week is an evaluation. Every week is you get an opportunity to show us what you can do," Kelly said. "We brought Jonathan Krause in there for a reason. We thought he was a really good player. We brought him up for a reason, too. It wasn't just, 'Let's reward a guy.' "
But Krause, who was called up from the practice squad before the Lions game, wasn't the story. He had one catch for 4 yards - probably one more than Austin had he played. It was that Sproles and Barner injected some life into a ground game - just as Ryan Mathews had done previously - that has been woefully inconsistent with Murray as the primary ballcarrier.
Kelly said he started the 5-foot-6, 190-pound Sproles and featured the 5-9, 195-pound Barner early because they are smaller and shiftier than the 6-foot, 217-pound Murray. Sproles and Barner said they did not know going into the game that they would be used more.
"It's as big a group of linebackers as you're going to face," Kelly said. "And then we just kind of - as the game expressed itself - [went] with the hot hand. And we used all three. DeMarco had a big run on the inside zone on that 13-play drive."
Murray's 19-yard fourth- quarter tote advanced the Eagles into the red zone. They scored a touchdown three plays later. But that carry was an anomaly. Murray's seven other rushes netted just 5 yards.
"You always want an opportunity to play and obviously run the ball," Murray said, "but we got the victory, so that's all that matters."
