New Father Byron Murphy II Caps Momentous Week With Standout Performance In Seahawks Win at Jacksonville

Five days after becoming a father, Byron Murphy II turned in one of the best games of his career to help the Seahawks to a Week 6 win over the Jaguars.

Oct 12, 2025 at 05:15 PM

John Boyle

Seahawks.com Senior Reporter

On Thursday, two days after Byron Murphy II became a father, veteran defensive tackle Jarran Reed joked that his fellow defensive lineman was going to add "dad strength" to his already impressive skillset.

And whether or not it was dad strength powering Murphy on Sunday, the second-year lineman was a force to be reckoned with throughout the Seahawks' 20-12 win over the Jaguars.

Murphy got things started early, chasing down Jaguars quarterback Trevor Lawrence for a sack on the game's first play from scrimmage, and he never let up. Murphy finished his day with a career-high 2.0 sacks, leading the charge for a dominant effort for Seattle's defensive front, which recorded seven sacks and 15 quarterback hits against an offensive line that had yielded just six sacks through its first five games. Murphy, who had four of those quarterback hits, also had seven pressures according to NFL Next Gen Stats, tied for the team lead along with DeMarcus Lawrence, who also had a pair of sacks.

The game was a continuation of what has been a breakout season for Murphy, Seattle's first-round pick last year. Any coach or teammate asked about Murphy's rookie season was quick to point out how well he was playing despite a lack of statistical production, but now this year the numbers are there to back those assertions up. After finishing his rookie season with half a sack, 36 tackles, two tackles for loss and one quarterback hit, Murphy is up to 4.5 sacks, 23 tackles, three tackles for loss and nine quarterback hits through his first six games this season.

"Byron had seven on his own" Seahawks coach Mike Macdonald said of Murphy's pressure numbers. "That's pretty good. I'm going to claim that I was right on Byron as I've been telling you for two years."

Asked about his jump in production this year, Murphy said, "I feel like I'm playing better, I'm getting better week in and week out. I've just got to keep going, keep preparing how I'm preparing, trust in the coaches and the game plan, and also my guys around me. I've just got to keep going."

And Murphy wasn't just disruptive in the passing game, he was also a big part of team effort against the run, with the Jaguars managing just 59 yards on 19 attempts for a 3.1 yards-per-carry average, number that were well below their numbers coming into the game, with Jacksonville ranking fifth in the league in rushing yards (137.0) and sixth in rushing yards per carry (4.9) prior to Sunday.

"He's a young bull," DeMarcus Lawrence said. "He's the man in the middle, making sure he's taking care of the run. I believe he's our No. 1 run defender, hands down. He comes to work each and every day, and that young spirit brightens up us older guys in the room to come to work with him."

And as Murphy shared after the game, his big performance on Sunday was far from being the biggest moment of his week. On Tuesday, Murphy's fiancé, Maya, gave birth to the couple's daughter, Danee' Azaria, who was born three months early, weighing just two pounds, five ounces. That meant daily visits to the neonatal intensive care unit, but fortunately their daughter is breathing on her own and making good progress.

"It was hard getting a lot of sleep," Murphy said of his week. "I was at the hospital pretty much every day this past week. My daughter, she's doing good, but she's in the NICU right now. She was three months early, but she's breathing on her own, she's doing very well. She's developing pretty fast."

Murphy added that Maya is "doing great. She's doing good."

Asked about the balance between doing his day job and worrying about a premature newborn who is still in the NICU, Murphy said, "I just keep reminding myself that I still have a job to do, and also checking on my baby girl to make sure she's good. I was able to balance that really well."