Myles Murphy back at practice after missing Bengals vs. Falcons

When the Bengals were set to take on the Falcons, Myles Murphy was among the most important players to watch for on Cincinnati’s side.

However, Murphy did not travel with the team to Atlanta after being sidelined with an illness. It wasn’t even revealed that Murphy was out until the second quarter.

Thankfully, it doesn’t appear the illness was serious, as Murphy was back on the practice field Sunday, according to Dan Hoard.

The 28th-overall pick of this year’s NFL Draft, Murphy was taken by Cincinnati in hopes of upgrading a pass rush that had the fourth-fewest sacks (30) in the league last season.

But to this point, Murphy has been relatively quiet in training camp and his preseason debut vs. the Packers. Paul Dehner of The Athletic even speculated that Murphy could be inactive in Week 1 in favor of Cam Sample.

Will Murphy play well enough to warrant inclusion in a third-down pass-rush package, kicking inside along with Ossai? Or will that go to Sample? Will Murphy even be active on game day considering he lingers behind Sample on the depth chart? The Bengals traditionally keep only eight defensive linemen active, and he hasn’t been running in the top eight yet.

Safe to say this will be a big week for Murphy to show what he’s really made of in the preseason finale vs. the Washington Commanders.

Hopefully, Murphy will find his groove soon and be able to make a positive impact along the defensive line when the regular season begins vs. the Browns in Cleveland.