Oakland Raiders running back Latavius Murray had the best first half of any running back on the team this season, breaking 100 yards and scoring two crucial touchdowns in the team’s first win of 2014. Because of that, as well as the struggles of Darren McFadden along with Maurice Jones-Drew, hype around the second year running back is high this weekend following the Thursday Night football breakout.
However according to NFL.com, interim head coach Tony Sparano wants perspective to be used when getting excited about a player who has only put together three strong quarters of running in his NFL career including his four carries against the San Diego Chargers. Trying to slow the Latavius Murray hype train just a little while the UCF product is recovering from a concussion suffered in the second quarter.
From NFL.com
"“I know what he did, but he played nine plays and unfortunately got hurt. He had a heck of a run,” Sparano said, per the Bay Area News Group. “He also had the ball out one time which we need to get corrected.”That fumble came on the play in which Murray suffered the concussion. The 24-year-old back tweeted that he was fine on Friday. The Raiders got the weekend off after their first win of the season, so we won’t get an official update on the back’s status until next week.Sparano said Murray would get more work when healthy but added the young back has to continue to earn them in practice.“Like any young player there is a progress you’ve got to see before you feel like you’re going to put him out there in those situations,” Sparano said. “I’ve had to see that in practice, and little by little I’ve seen it and this has kind of been where it has gone.”"
Sparano’s comments are well intended as there is a lot of pressure on Murray to set the world on fire every time he gets a touch after his big performances as of late, that doesn’t mean that Murray won’t be getting more touches, but for now there is value in keeping expectations for the second year back realistic until he impresses over a consistent basis. We will see if that happens over the course of the rest of the season, but recent returns indicate that Murray’s hype will continue.