Tranquill, Murray, Jr., making early impression
Four weeks into the season, Chargers linebacker Drue Tranquill leads the team with 22 solo tackles and 33 combined tackles. Tranquill’s Week 1 interception against the Las Vegas Raiders also him tied with three other Chargers defenders for the second-most interceptions on the team.
Tranquill’s performance through Week 4 has caught the eye of Chargers Head Coach Brandon Staley, who said on Monday that the fourth-year linebacker is playing at “very high level” four games into the season.
Chargers Defensive Coordinator Renaldo Hill has also taken notice of Tranquill’s play thus far and talked about what he and fellow linebacker Kenneth Murray, Jr., mean to the Bolts defense.
“Drue has been steady,” Hill said. “Every practice, I feel like he’s gaining more and more confidence, along with Kenneth Murray.
“I think that the combination of having both of them out there for this amount of time — there have been spurts where you have Drue at one point, Kenneth at one — but they’ve been healthy,” Hill added.
Murray ranks fourth in tackles on defense with 16 combined tackles (nine solo). Hill explained why the extra reps the linebackers have had at practice and on gamedays is showing up in the way the are preforming together this season.
“I think that it just helps them build confidence,” Hill said. “I think the more reps that you get at that position, and the more and more they see how people are trying to attack them, and knowing the defense, being in Year 2, I just think that it is gaining those guys more and more confidence.
They’re playing fast,” Hill added. “They’re playing lights out. They’re making all of the adjustments fast and quick, and that’s what you want those guys behind the ball to do.”
Just like every week in the NFL, a new week means a new opponent and a new challenge. This weekend in Cleveland, Tranquill and Murray now prepare to slow down the running back duo of Nick Chubb and Kareem Hunt. The Browns average a 187.3 yards on the ground, the second-most in the NFL.
