Trey Hendrickson, the NFL’s sack leader for 2024, has been out with hip and back injuries.
Shemar Stewart, the Cincinnati Bengals’ first-round selection in the 2025 NFL Draft, is out with an ankle injury and currently on IR. The Bengals needed someone to step up and help carry the load at defensive end.
Enter Myles Murphy, an underachieving defensive end who was the Bengals’ first-round selection in the 2023 NFL Draft. It was just the opportunity he had been waiting for.
After being limited in appearances over the first two years of his career, Murphy is now playing between 80 and 90 percent of the defensive snaps and is starting to show glimpses of the player Cincinnati hoped he would become.
In the Week 9 loss to the Chicago Bears, Murphy had five tackles and an assist, three quarterback pressures, one batted pass, and two run stops. In Week 11 against the Pittsburgh Steelers, Murphy had his best game of the season with five tackles and an assist, six pressures, a sack, four hurries, and five run stops.
Against the Patriots on Sunday, Murphy recorded four pass rush wins and three pressures in the first half alone, according to Gridiron Grading.
“Just make the plays that come to you, that come to my side, that come into my gap,” Murphy said recently. “Not trying to force plays to happen. I felt like I was doing that early on in the season. Make the plays that come to you.”
The extra work has slowed down the speed of the game and allowed the 6-5, 275-pound Murphy to focus on playing fast and penetrating.
“Play fast,” Murphy said. “Whether you’re doing the right or wrong thing, play fast, come across the ball, re-set the line of scrimmage. Play fast, everything else falls into place.”
The Bengals will need Murphy to continue his resurgence when they take on the Ravens without the services of Hendrickson, who remains out with his back injury.
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