It’s becoming a poorly-kept secret that Cincinnati Bengals first-round pick Myles Murphy is off to a slow start as a rookie.
Murphy has been a quiet presence during training camp so far, then went out and recorded just two tackles and a quarterback hit in his preseason NFL debut.
Normally a slow start wouldn’t be a big ordeal — a rookie pass-rusher could still get involved in a rotation and keep developing during the regular season.
But it’s not so simple on a stacked Bengals roster. As Paul Dehner Jr. of The Athletic noted, the situation with Muprhy continues to be “less than enthusiastic.”
As of now, Murphy isn’t running in the top eight defensive linemen on the Bengals, with Cam Sample the primary rotational guy behind bigger names like Sam Hubbard, Trey Hendrickson and Joseph Ossai.
That would likely mean Murphy doesn’t get on the active roster for a game, or if he is active, he won’t get on the field to get in the rotation.
This isn’t the end of the world for Murphy. He didn’t join a bad team that needed immediate help — quite the opposite. But he’ll have to prove quickly that should something happen to the guys in front of him, he’ll be ready to make an impact.
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