Fantasy Football: Tennessee Titans RB DeMarco Murray battles through injuries

NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- It hasn't been the type of season running back DeMarco Murray or the Tennessee Titans would have hoped for through eight games.

Murray leads the Titans with 391 yards rushing, but that is far off the pace he set last year when he led the AFC in rushing with 1,287 yards in 2016.

One of the main reasons that Murray's production has not equaled last year's is all of the nagging injuries he has dealt with this season.

He missed all of preseason and a fair amount of training camp with a nagging hamstring injury that was originally said to be "day-to-day," but eventually lingered into multiple weeks.

Murray was back for the regular season -- and still has not missed any games. But in that time, he has missed practice time in two different weeks after tweaking the hamstring. It must be noted that he had his only 100-yard rushing game of the season against Seattle after practicing virtually not all that week after reinjuring the hamstring.

Murray has also been bothered a bit by a shoulder injury, and last Sunday against the Baltimore Ravens came out for a time with first a knee injury that had him limping, and later an arm issue.

Even head coach Mike Mularkey expected Murray to be limited this week in practice, because of the knee issue. But on Wednesday, Murray was back and practicing fully for the Titans.

"I'm not surprised. He's a tough football player," Mularkey said.

The Titans have Derrick Henry waiting in the wings and he has nearly split the workload 50/50 through the first eight games of the year with 83 carries for 357 yards. But the Titans need a healthy Murray for the stretch run, because not only is he still a solid rushing threat, but he also is their best back in pass protection and in pass receiving.

Last year, the Titans used Murray often as a receiver as he caught 53 passes. This year, Murray has only 19 receptions thus far, but on Sunday had a key 17-yard catch that helped set up a Tennessee touchdown.

The Titans' run game has been sporadic this season, but a healthy and productive Murray is a key for the second half of the year as they attempt to earn their first playoff berth and division title since 2008.