DeMarco Murray doesn't think Chip Kelly is giving him enough touches

Three weeks ago, new Eagles running back DeMarco Murray told reporters in Philadelphia, "The only thing that matters is wins. Not yards, not records, none of that stuff. You know, at the end of the day, it’s that one column, and that’s wins and losses." After yet another loss, Murray added a caveat to that statement.

Murray believes more carries would result in more yards and more wins, or at least that's what he seemed to suggest after a 23-20 loss to the Washington Redskins on Sunday. Here's what Philadelphia Inquirer beat reporter Zach Berman relayed from the locker room after the Eagles fell to last place in the NFC East:

According to Berman, Murray added: "I love this offense, I love playing with these guys. It’s how it is."

Splitting carries with Ryan Matthews and Darren Sproles in the backfield once again, Murray rushed just eight times for 36 yards on Sunday. Thirty of those yards came on his first carry of the afternoon. Of course, he was coming off a hamstring injury that kept him out of last week's 24-17 win over the New York Jets.

Before the injury, though, Murray wasn't exactly lighting the NFL on fire. Actually, his 0.52 yards per carry through the first two weeks of the season (11 rushing yards on 21 carries!) marked the worst start for any running back in Pro Football Reference's database. So, he wasn't exactly earning those extra carries. He does have 11 catches for 76 yards this season, including two for an additional 12 yards on Sunday.

It's been a remarkable fall from grace for Murray, who led the NFL in carries (392), rushing yards (1,845) and rushing touchdowns (13) for the NFC East rival Dallas Cowboys last season. The Eagles signed him to a five-year, $40 million contract with $21 million guaranteed through 2019, according to spotrac.com. By comparison, Cowboys running back Joseph Randle rushed for 203 yards and three scores on 48 carries in Murray's absence through three weeks, and Dallas (2-1) entered Sunday night's game with the division lead.

But Eagles coach Chip Kelly set expectations before Murray ever took a handoff in earnest from Sam Bradford this season, telling MMQB's Peter King back in August that he planned to lighten Murray's load.

Both Matthews and Sproles have been marginally better, combining for 212 yards and two scores on 54 carries through four weeks (3.93 yards per carry). Then again, every back in history had been better than Murray, so that's not saying much. On the bright side, it's still early, and things can't get any worse.

All of this begs the question why the Eagles signed Murray in the first place. They supposedly traded LeSean McCoy — who has his own problems, even if he's rushed for almost three times as many yards as Murray despite injury —  to avoid paying big bucks to a 27-year-old running back. Then, they signed a 27-year-old Murray to the same big-money deal and have given him 13 carries a game. Curious, indeed.

- - - - - - -

Ben Rohrbach

is a contributor for Ball Don't Lie and Shutdown Corner on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at rohrbach_ben@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter! Follow @brohrbach