At the very least, Tennessee Titans rookie outside linebacker Caleb Murphy helped his cause in making the roster in preseason Week 2, and he may have solidified his spot altogether.
Murphy, who did a good job setting the edge and was active all night long, had a pair of sacks on Saturday night, bringing his preseason total up to a team-high three.
“Confidence level has always been high,” Murphy said, per ESPN’s Turron Davenport. “I pride myself on what I do, I’m here for a reason, I’ve said that over and over again. But there’s a lot of work to still be done, a lot of things to clean up but very proud of myself. Two sacks is big.”
“It’s always nice, that’s what we’re brought in to do, to sack the quarterback,” he added. “It’s a nice feeling.”
From DII to the NFL, Caleb Murphy with his second sack of the preseason 💪
📺: Watch #TENvsMIN on @WKRN / NFL+ pic.twitter.com/JAmQZx8bNv
— Tennessee Titans (@Titans) August 20, 2023
Head coach Mike Vrabel offered praise for the Ferris State product, but like Murphy he noted there are some things for the UDFA to clean up and mentioned the need to improve his awareness.
“I thought he had a good couple of days here with the exposure that he had in practice,” Vrabel said, per Paul Kuharsky. “I told him to keep that coming. There are a lot of things we need to clean up, but certainly some good pressures there by Caleb.”
“There are some awareness things that need to improve,” he added. “I think he’s shown the ability to pass rush in certain levels, to have some moves that work, reduce the surface area, a really cool rush making an inside move on a tackle.”
Murphy has shown enough on defense to help his chances, but special teams work remains important for his quest to land a roster spot. As long as he’s adequate in that area, he should have no issue making the cut.
