Dallas Cowboys bench DeMarco Murray, remains quiet

The Dallas Cowboys are hoping that DeMarco Murray can remain healthy and bring stability and ultimately success to their running game. He fumbled in the first quarter of the third preseason game against the Cincinnati Bengals, despite recovering  and was benched at the end of the drive.

“We took DeMarco out in the first half because he put the ball on the ground,” head coach Jason Garrett said, via ESPN. “So we gave Phillip Tanner a chance to play with the (first team) in the first half then talked to DeMarco at halftime. We gave him a chance to play in the second half and I thought he did a good job of bouncing back.”

Murray stood on the sideline with his helmet on and his hands on his hips. After the game he didn’t talk to reporters.

“Just like you would expect, he’s just a man,” Cowboys owner/general manager Jerry Jones said of Murray’s response to the benching. “I mean, he’s a man. There’s no doubt in my mind, if challenged, he’s going to step up and meet that challenge and he met it competitively and that was expected. And I’m sure everybody had in mind, you put the emphasis on turnover, that we would do a little extra if we got a turnover situation. I think it inspired the whole team. I was glad he was able to do it and show everybody and not get nicked up.”

Garrett agrees.

“Thought he did a good job. He’s a pro. He’s a damn good football player,” Garrett said. “You can’t let not taking care of the football when you’re a running back diminish you as a player. And he’s just not going to do that. He’s not going to put the ball on the ground, and I thought he responded well to it.”