Tag: myles murphy

Bengals need to take key lesson from Chiefs to get back to contending

The truth hurts…but the Bengals need to get this right.

The Cincinnati Bengals could learn many things from the Kansas City Chiefs as they hope one offseason of change is enough to get right back to the playoffs and to contend. 

But one lesson from the Chiefs reigns far above anything else — get production from rookies right away.

The Chiefs have consistently picked near the end of the draft order annually, yet keep plugging and playing high-end starters. Since the 2022 draft, Trent McDuffie has blossomed into a lockdown corner and George Karlaftis an elite pass-rusher. Xavier Worthy caught six touchdowns this year as a rookie, and other high-end picks have seen a steady uptick in playing time.

Contrast that to the Bengals. They took Dax Hill in 2022 and sat him, then played him out of position. Myles Murphy, the first-rounder in 2023, played less than 30 percent of the snaps. Injuries played a part in keeping Amarius Mims off the field this year at times, at least, while Kris Jenkins Jr. played 49 percent.

The problem is a little more complex than “just play rookies,” yes. They need to identify good players and develop them well. But there’s a feeling of luxury attached to these names that the team displayed — as if they handwaved needing to get high picks playing experience before actually putting them out there.

Getting this right would mean smarter veteran contract decisions. Now? They kept bloated, aging contracts around and don’t know whether they should do things like Dax Hill’s fifth-year option and whether cornerback is as big of a need as it seems.

Some of this might explain the departure of defensive coordinator Lou Anarumo, too. But it shouldn’t have been permitted to get to this point, not when onlookers could have wondered in real-time if Dax Hill was playing in the right spot and whether Sam Hubbard really had enough left to be keeping Myles Murphy off the field.

Perhaps the Bengals took this lesson to heart already with Mims, who had Trent Brown beat for the starting right tackle job going into the season before an injury.

Going into this year’s draft, though, the objective is simple — find good players and those guys selected in the first two rounds need to be ready to help right away, no excuses.

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Bengals urged to play 1st-round pick more with season lost

Onlookers want to see the Bengals get this player on the field more.

One of the more interesting notes around the Cincinnati Bengals this season is the lack of reps for former first-round pick Myles Murphy.

Murphy has appeared in eight games for the team this year, yet played just 37 percent of the snaps.

This is something that was recently spotlighted by Bleacher Report while attempting to nail down moves each team needs to make right now:

Myles Murphy is a great example. His usage has actually been lower over the last three to four weeks than it was in the middle of the season when he made his debut this year. That should change as the Bengals need to find out if he can be the long-term answer in Sam Hubbard’s spot in future seasons.

The Bengals have eased Murphy back into the rotation while suggesting that Joseph Ossai has taken a step in his own progression, earning more playing time.

A point of contention would be the playing time given to Sam Hubbard, who has been working through an injury and struggling.

The Bengals needed more playing time and a second-year leap from Murphy. Instead, they now need to play him more the remainder of the season just to get a better idea of how serious the need is on the edge this offseason.

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Joseph Ossai over Myles Murphy explained by Bengals coaches

A sour point for fans gets an answer from Bengals coaches.

A rather stunning development has caught Cincinnati Bengals fans off guard in recent weeks.

No, not the inability to beat good teams — Joseph Ossai is consistently out-snapping former first-round pick Myles Murphy.

This has been especially jarring because it seems like Murphy, fresh off an injury, would be inserted as one of the guys to possibly save a defensive line that has played some terrible ball this season. Ossai has been a liability against the run, which has seemingly held him back from a bigger role in the past.

Instead, Ossai has seen a bigger uptick in playing time. Defensive coordinator Lou Anarumo merely attributes it to his improved play, too.

“(Joseph) Ossai is giving us great effort and giving us physical play in the run game,” Anarumo said, according to WLWT’s Charlie Clifford. “He’s kind of stepped his game up in my opinion. No knock on Myles. (His) arrow (points) up. I just like what Joe’s doing.”

At this point, the line rotations feel a lot like the secondary that keeps shuffling names — desperate.

If Ossai is producing more than Murphy, great. But that’s not what a team that has a terrible time securing good draft classes lately wants to see from a first-round pick. And it makes the future messier when recalling that Ossai is on the final year of his deal and might not be back next season, anyway.

These are the types of things that generally go overlooked if a team is winning. But right now, stuff like this goes under the microscope as the team searches for answers in real time right in front of fans.

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Bengals get four key defenders back in lineup ahead of matchup vs. Ravens

Bengals head coach Zac Taylor says Trey Hendrickson, Myles Murphy, B.J. Hill and McKinnley Jackson all will play vs. Ravens

The Bengals are getting healthy at the right time. For Sunday’s AFC North matchup against the Ravens, they’ll have four critical defenders back in the lineup to face Lamar Jackson and Derrick Henry.

Cincinnati head coach Zac Taylor says Trey Hendrickson, Myles Murphy, B.J. Hill, and McKinnley Jackson will all play.

Hendrickson was forced to leave last Sunday’s win over the Panthers with a stinger, but he has been able to practice all week. Head coach Zac Taylor said at a Friday press conference that he will play against Baltimore. Hendrickson has nine tackles and three sacks so far this season.

Murphy has been on the Reserve/Injured list and designated for return since Aug. 27 with a knee injury, while Jackson has been on the list since Aug. 29 with a knee injury.

Jackson is set to make his NFL debut.  The rookie defensive tackle spent the first four weeks of the season on injured reserve.

They’ll need the reinforcements, as Lamar Jackson, Derrick Henry, and the Ravens have rushed for 881 yards (6.4 yards-per-carry) in their first four games.

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Bengals injury updates offer good news for struggling defense

Good news on the injury front for the Bengals.

Cincinnati Bengals head coach Zac Taylor provided some good news in terms of injury updates as the team starts to prep for Week 5 against the Baltimore Ravens.

Speaking with the media on Monday, Taylor again stressed that B.J. Hill is closer to a return on the interior of the defensive line than Sheldon Rankins.

That could, in theory, let Hill get back on the field in Week 5, provided he keeps trending in that direction.

But the best news of all pertained to former first-round pick Myles Murphy, with Taylor revealing that they will open up the 21-day window for his return off injured reserve.

On paper, that could mean the pass-rush gets a much-needed boost in the coming weeks.

As for Trey Hendrickson, Taylor kept things vague and wasn’t ready to declare much of anything just one day removed from the apparent neck injury that had the star edge rusher in a sling after the win over Carolina.

Still, there’s minor good news there that Hendrickson wasn’t among the days roster moves. A report then provided even better news about his injury.

With the offense on fire and the AFC North quite open, it sounds like the defensive line will see gradual improvements in the coming weeks.

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Bengals could be without DE Myles Murphy for quite a while

Another (not great) update on the Myles Murphy injury for the Bengals.

It sounds like the Cincinnati Bengals won’t have Myles Murphy for an extended period of time despite recent updates on his injury status.

Murphy avoided a serious injury when he suffered a non-contact injury at practice this past week.

But that avoidance doesn’t mean he won’t be on the shelf for a while.

According to ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler, Murphy will miss four to six weeks of action — and the Bengals will be “conservative” with him to minimize risk.

Roughly, that could mean Murphy misses the first month of the season if the team takes it slow and reaches the high end of that estimate.

Taking it slow is, of course, the smart play because by the time Murphy gets back, he’ll be able to join the rotation and let the team ease up on veterans Sam Hubbard and Trey Hendrickson.

But Murphy was a planned major part of the rotation starting in Week 1, especially after last year’s flashes as a rookie, followed by his showing up much bigger this summer.

Alas, the potential breakout for the former first-round pick will have to wait. And the Bengals might look for outside help at the edge with Cam Sample already down for the season, with only Joseph Ossai and sixth-rounder Cedric Johnson as the primary backups on the likely 53-man chart right now.

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Bengals injury updates on Myles Murphy after training camp setback

An injury update on Bengals DE Myles Murphy.

Cincinnati Bengals second-year defender Myles Murphy was the latest defensive end to go down with an injury at training camp this week.

Murphy, it seems, will fare better than the others, though.

According to Bengals Talk’s James Rapien and followed up by NFL Network’s Mike Garafolo, Murphy avoided a serious injury, with Tuesday’s non-contact injury resulting in a sprain.

That will keep Murphy on the shelf for an unknown amount of time, but it’s better than losing the 2023 first-round pick for an extended period. He’s heading into a critical second year after flashing as a rookie and the team is counting on him to reinforce the rotation currently led by Trey Hendrickson and Sam Hubbard.

Hubbard was one of the other ends to go down with an injury during camp and is slowly working his way back after avoiding a serious-looking setback.

Cam Sample was another and was recently shifted to injured reserve.

The injuries have placed a bigger emphasis on the selection of sixth-round pick Cedric Johnson and other depth names. But if Murphy needs to miss time into the season, it wouldn’t be a shock to see the team look for outside help.

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Bengals DE Myles Murphy suffers apparent injury during joint practice with Colts

A big Bengals injury development with Myles Murphy during practice with the Colts.

Cincinnati Bengals defensive end Myles Murphy suffered an apparent knee injury during Tuesday’s joint practice with the Indianapolis Colts.

According to Pro Football Network’s Jay Morrison, Murphy grabbed at his knee after a possible non-contact issue, and the practice’s drills were moved so that trainers could work with him.

Murphy did walk off under his own power alongside trainers initially, albeit slowly, per Paul Dehner Jr. of The Athletic.

A former first-round pick from 2023, Myles is a critical part of the pass-rushing rotation in 2024. He came on strong to finish his rookie year and is both a possible long-term starter on the edge and an immediate, potent bit of juice alongside Trey Hendrickson and Sam Hubbard.

If Murphy misses time, the Bengals could be in trouble for multiple reasons. Chief among those is the team already losing Cam Sample for the season, which already stresses a depth chart where Joseph Ossai and late-round rookie Cedric Johnson will have to step into bigger roles.

Hubbard is currently on his way back from an injury after avoiding a serious setback and Hendrickson was previously week-to-week, too.

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2024 Cardinals roster preview: DL Myles Murphy

We will preview every player on the Cardinals’ roster heading into training camp. This is about defensive lineman Myles Murphy.

The Arizona Cardinals will open training camp July 23 and begin the process of preparing for the regular season, forming the roster and determining starting jobs and roles on the team.

Leading up to the start of camp, we will take a look at every player on the offseason roster, their background, their contract, their play in 2023, questions they face and their roster outlook.

Next up is defensive lineman Myles Murphy.

Background

In his senior season at James B. Dudley High School in Greensboro, N.C., Murphy had 70 tackles, 21 for loss and 9.5 sacks. He played four seasons at North Carolina and started 38 of 52 games while compiling 99 tackles (50 solo), 17 for loss, 7.0 sacks, four passes defensed, one fumble recovery and one blocked field-goal attempt. He was named first-team All-ACC in 2021 and 2023.

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Bengals’ best building block faces key season in 2024

Is Myles Murphy the top building block on the Bengals?

Despite little in the way of roster turnover, the Cincinnati Bengals have some notable building blocks.

And on a list looking at younger players who might most impact the team’s future, Myles Murphy is impossible not to mention.

Murphy, the team’s first-rounder in 2023, is the pick for Bleacher Report’s David Kenyon, who assembled a list of the most promising building blocks still on rookie contracts:

Midway through his rookie year, Myles Murphy wouldn’t have merited this billing simply for being a 2023 first-round pick. He improved in the second half enough to jump past a few possible options in the secondary. Murphy totaled 20 stops with three sacks as a rookie but should hold a larger role in his second year.

Things started to click for Murphy last year as he earned more playing time, leading to some eyebrow-raising flashes.

Now, the Bengals expect a second-year leap from Murphy, who showed up even bigger this summer.

If the obvious upward trend can continue, Murphy’s rise would mean boosting a pass-rush in desperate need of help and, in turn, make life easier on a secondary undergoing a transition.

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