Kelly Explains Why Eagles Held Murray Back

DeMarco Murray was vague Monday when asked why he was limited in certain aspects of practice during the first day of training camp.

But Chip Kelly offered up a clear explanation today.

“We have a hydration status test, and he was a little bit high,” Kelly said. “Obviously when you see guys that are high from a hydration standpoint, then you kind of pull them back a little bit because that’s when they’re susceptible for an injury, so that was a training staff, coaching decision.”

It might have seemed strange for the Eagles to hold Murray back on the first day of camp after a six-week layoff, but Kelly said it’s jut a matter of monitoring players and keeping them healthy for the long-term. He specified that the process with Murray, who carried a heavy workload last year, is no different than the process with other players on the roster.

“We’ve done that before,” Kelly said. “We monitor guys in a lot of different ways, and there’s a reason we do it. So if a guy we feel like isn’t hydrated enough which puts him in a more susceptible situation injury [wise], that’s what we’re trying to do. That’s part of what our sports science thing is. We’re trying to prevent injuries instead of saying afterwards Joe Jones just pulled his hamstring. What was his hydration level? He was really dehydrated. Well why didn’t we know that before we were out on the field? That’s why we do what we do. It’s just a checks and balances system. You can prevent things because once it happens, you can’t really get it back.

“It’s not that we were treating him differently than anybody else, but we have full monitors on everybody. That’s why we have GPS systems and heart monitors and all those other things so we can try to prevent injuries before they happen instead of after the fact say, ‘That probably happened because he was dehydrated.’ Well, we should have done something about it on the front end.”

Kelly added that Murray is “the most conditioned athlete” on the Eagles.

“But if you don’t drink the requisite amount of water and electrolytes and have ‘em in your system, it doesn’t matter how fit you are,” he said. “And especially the weather, that was a big factor for us too. We had back to back going into three 90-degree days. So just being real conscious of you don’t want to lose a guy on the first day. Just a medical staff, coaching staff decision.”

Murray was a full participant on Monday, the second day of camp.