ASHBURN, Va. — Washington Redskins outside linebacker Trent Murphy is preparing as usual for the 2017 season though he will miss the first four games for violating the NFL’s policy on performance-enhancing substances.
Murphy was suspended without pay and lost his appeal, but is still eligible to participate in offseason and preseason games and activities, including the organized team activities session where he spoke about his suspension last week.
“Yeah, I mean it was extremely disappointing to find out,” Murphy said. “It’s kind of like a gut-wrenching feeling. You know, it took me by total surprise.”
Murphy won’t play until Week 6 because the Redskins have their bye in Week 5. Until then, the Redskins will be without one of their top pass rushers. Murphy was second on the team with nine sacks in 2016 and led the team with three forced fumbles.
Fellow outside linebacker Ryan Kerrigan is one of the Redskins most reliably good players. Behind him, Washington can hope that Preston Smith, who started all 16 games in 2016, makes a leap or that one of the untested players among the list of potential fill-ins stands out.
“Obviously Kerrigan is a mainstay, Preston Smith looks very good,” coach Jay Gruden said at the Redskins’ golf classic last week. “Trent Murphy is going to miss four games but Junior comes back, we’ve got Ryan Anderson in the mix. Chris Carter who we added, so we’ve got some outside ’backers.”
Still, back at the NFL owners’ meetings in March just after Murphy’s suspension came down, Gruden said that “it concerns me a lot.”
It’s unclear what substance Murphy was using that led to the suspension. He did not offer an explanation for it other than to say that it was disappointing and inconsistent with his character. Those around him, he said, have mostly given him one simple piece of advice.
“They said stay in shape,” Murphy said. “Stay in shape, stay focused, stay in football.”
• Nora Princiotti can be reached at nprinciotti@washingtontimes.com.
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