Eagles running back DeMarco Murray, who was finally demoted on Sunday after struggling all season, has reportedly gone above Chip Kelly to take things up with the owner.
Murray went to Eagles owner Jeffrey Lurie and addressed frustrations with his role in Kelly’s offense, Ed Werder of ESPN reports.
Werder’s report adds that Murray doesn’t want to cause a scene, but there’s no question that a disgruntled player going to the owner with a complaint about the coach is going to cause discord within the franchise. Murray was the prize free agent signing of Kelly’s first year with total personnel control, and if Murray thinks the problems with Kelly’s offense are so serious that he has to have a sit-down with the owner, that’s a real problem.
There’s no word on what Lurie told Murray, but the reality is Murray has only himself to blame for his demotion. If anything, Kelly gave Murray too many opportunities, keeping him in the starting lineup even as he was outplayed by all three of the Eagles’ other running backs, Ryan Mathews, Darren Sproles and Kenjon Barner.
The 5-7 Eagles are fighting for the NFC East title, and it has become clear that they’re more likely to win their final four games with a running back other than Murray getting the bulk of the carries. Whether Murray likes it or not, Kelly was right to bench him.