Houston Texans safety Eric Murray talked about his second time being positive with COVID-19 on Monday.
The day after the Texans’ 23-7 loss to the San Francisco 49ers in Week 17, Murray opened up on his experiences with the novel coronavirus.
“The first time I had it, I had chills and stuff like that,” Murray said. “It lasted for a really long time. I didn’t feel regular for a really long time even after I recovered, I was still having days where I didn’t feel as well. This was like months later.”
Murray missed the final two games of the 2021 campaign as he was placed on the COVID-19 reserve on Dec. 27, 2020, the day of Houston’s Week 16 tilt with the Cincinnati Bengals at NRG Stadium.
When Murray was placed on the COVID-19 reserve on Dec. 23, 2021, he says it wasn’t that deleterious.
Said Murray: “This time, it kind of felt like a regular cold. I think just because I went through the experience before and I got vaccinated and I got the booster. I really was only sick for two days and then the rest of the days I was out I was recovering. Whereas last year the recovery period started way later in the process.”
Murray came off of the COVID-19 reserve on Dec. 29, three days after Houston beat the Los Angeles Chargers 41-29 at NRG Stadium.
Even though it felt like a cold this go-around, Murray says he still had a problem with his “wind.”
“Definitely my wind was an issue,” said Murray, who finished with six combined tackles and a pass breakup on 59 defensive snaps and 14 special teams snaps. “I came out of the game a few times. My wind was an issue, that’s just a part of it.
“I feel more close to normal this year than I definitely did last year. I couldn’t imagine doing what I did this week last year.”