Suicide suspected in death of Titans WR

Hours after sending a gracious yet puzzling middle-of-the-night text message to a former college coach, Tennessee Titans receiver O.J. Murdock died in an apparent suicide in Tampa, Fla., police said Monday.

Tampa police spokeswoman Andrea Davis said officers found Murdock, 25, about 8:30 a.m. inside his car with what appeared to be self-inflicted gunshot wounds. The car was parked in front of Middleton High School, where Murdock made a name for himself as a dynamic receiver and state champion sprinter in track and field.

Al McCray, assistant head coach at Fort Hays State, said when he woke up at his Kansas home he found a message on his cell phone from the player, thanking McCray for everything he had done for Murdock and his family. The athlete concluded the text with an apology that baffled McCray, who said he had known Murdock since he was a middle school student.

"The hardest part about this is I got a text at 3:30 in the morning, where he said: 'Coach, I want to thank you for everything you've done for me and my family. It's greatly appreciated,' " McCray said. "At the end, he goes: 'I apologize.' And I don't know what he's talking about. I woke up, and I'm thinking he's apologizing because he texted me so early. ... I wish he had called instead."

McCray was an assistant coach at Middleton when Murdock was there and later helped the player resume his college career after he was kicked off the team at South Carolina, where he was part of Steve Spurrier's first recruiting class.

Murdock, who signed with the Titans as an undrafted free agent in 2011 and spent all of last season on injured reserve, was taken to Tampa General, where he died.

The speedy receiver did not report to training camp over the weekend because of what the Titans said at the time was a personal issue. He last was with the team in June for minicamp.

Titans coach Mike Munchak said the team didn't detect any troubling signs.

"We didn't have any (hints). It's a phone call you never want to get," Munchak said. "It's something that as a head coach, you never think you'll have to stand in front of your team and give them that kind of news. I think everyone was shocked by it. We weren't aware that there were any issues going on."

■ GIANTS - Projected starting cornerback Terrell Thomas re-injured his surgically repaired right knee, and his status for the season is uncertain.

Thomas was sent to the Hospital for Special Surgery in New York on Monday after he reported swelling in his right knee. An MRI and an examination by Dr. Russell Warren showed that the five-year veteran suffered another injury to the knee involving the anterior cruciate ligament.

He tore his ACL for the second time in a preseason game last season and missed the Giants' Super Bowl season. He slipped in practice Sunday while covering receiver Domenik Hixon and that seems to be when he re-injured it.

■ REDSKINS - Starting left guard Kory Lichtensteiger had arthroscopic surgery to remove particles from his right knee and is expected to be out until the Sept. 9 opener at New Orleans.

Also, backup inside linebacker Jonathan Goff is out for the year after tearing his right ACL during practice Saturday. Goff was sidelined for all of 2011 with the same injury while with the Giants.

Lichtensteiger missed the final 11 games of 2011 with a torn ACL and medial collateral ligament in his right knee. Washington coach Mike Shanahan said those ligaments are fine.

■ JETS - All-Pro cornerback Darrelle Revis fully participated in practice after sitting out team drills Sunday with tightness in his right hamstring. Revis worked with New York's first-team defense during 7-on-7 and 11-on-11 drills, and showed no signs of being hobbled.

■ VIKINGS - Star running back Adrian Peterson returned to training camp at Minnesota State after an allergic reaction at lunch sent him to a local hospital.

Coach Leslie Frazier said after practice that Peterson ate some seafood that caused his face to swell and resulted in shortness of breath. An ambulance was called, and Peterson was diagnosed with the allergic reaction at the hospital. He returned to campus soon after.

Frazier said the situation was a "little bit of a scare" but that Peterson is "fine now." He said he expects Peterson to continue his left knee rehab today.