Shortly after he was placed on injured reserve (neck) on Oct. 31, Jacksonville Jaguars safety Eric Murray walked gingerly through the locker room and slowly sat on the bench in front of his stall.

My first thought? Murray’s season was over.

Turns out, Murray had the same kind of thought.

“For sure, it was touch and go,” he said. “To be honest, I didn’t know what would happen.”

Murray said the issue involved a nerve and he missed five games before returning in the Jaguars’ win over the Indianapolis Colts on Dec. 7. He had two tackles, a pass break-up and forced fumble.

“He’s getting back into the swing of it,” coach Liam Coen said. “His presence was definitely felt (with) his communication and confidence. I think he’s going to take a step forward as he gets more and more comfortable after not playing in a long time.”

Murray said he didn’t require a neck brace as a part of his recovery but did use a cervical pillow to sleep at night.

“It was uncomfortable,” he said. “But I had to make sure I took care of myself and made (the pillow) a part of my routine.”

The Colts game was a personal success for Murray, who signed a three-year, $22.5 million contract with the Jaguars in March.

“I didn’t have any flare-ups after any tackle so it was good,” he said.

Murray’s return coincided with Andrew Wingard missing the Colts game with a concussion. Wingard was cleared from the concussion protocol on Dec. 11 and the Jaguars are likely to go with him and Murray as the starters against the New York Jets on Dec. 14. Antonio Johnson should be an option to play the dime defender role.

About the Jaguars

1. Bradley on Rivers: One Jaguars player following Philip Rivers’ return to the NFL with the Indianapolis Colts is practice squad quarterback Carter Bradley.

Before the 2024 draft, Bradley, along with Drake Maye (now with New England) and Bo Nix (now with Denver), trained with Rivers at QB Country in Mobile, Ala.

Rivers was coaching high school football in the area and Bradley had completed his career at South Alabama.

“It was amazing,” Bradley said. “He just loves the game. You saw how excited he was to talk about the game every time he gets the chance and just the leadership aspect of things.”

More: More from O'Halloran: Jacksonville Jaguars' most underrated player? Teammates weigh in

Bradley laughed when I asked if he could keep up with Rivers’ fast-talking style.

“He’s excited when he gets to talk ball,” Bradley said. “He’s awesome to be around. It’s just ball, ball, ball all the time. He was throwing it super-well when we were down there and he’s still slinging it.”

Bradley’s dad, Gus, the former Jaguars coach, was the Los Angeles Chargers’ defensive coordinator during Rivers’ final three seasons with the Bolts (2017-19).

2. Dickerson making impact: Cut by Miami on Aug. 26, defensive tackle Matt Dickerson signed with the Jaguars’ practice squad two days later.

Dickerson, who played three games as a call-up before he was signed to the active roster on Dec. 3, unseated Austin Johnson from the rotation against Indianapolis. In 64 defensive snaps (32 vs. the Colts) over four games, two half run stuffs among his five tackles.

“I’ve been doing this for a long time and been through so many ups and downs in my career trying to find the right fit,” said Dickerson, 30. “I’m doing everything I can to add value to the defense. We’re able to play free and fast and have fun out there.”

Said defensive coordinator Anthony Campanile: “He did such a great job when he was playing scout-team defense and was getting after it and competing on every play. That gave us an even better look at what he’s capable of doing and he’s been able to do that in the games.”

3. Run-game improvement needed: In the last five weeks, the Jaguars’ running game ranking has gone from 11th to 14th to eighth for two weeks to 11th to 15th (121.7 yards per game). And Coen isn’t happy about it.

“Still a lot of meat left on the bone in the run game,” he said. “(There were) details, fundamentals and techniques that need to improve (with) guys staying off the ground and playing a little cleaner. We had a few targeting issues (against Indianapolis) and a few fundamentals issues that weren’t completely up to the standard by any means.”

In my game charting, I count any rush gaining 1 or fewer yards (not counting short-yardage conversions and touchdowns) as a “bad” run play. In Games 1-7, the Jaguars had 29 “bad” runs (4.1 average), but have 49 in Games 8-13 (8.2 average), including a season-high 11 against the Colts.

4. Lane remembers Navy-Army games: Among Jaguars rookie safety Rayuan Lane’s 49 games at Navy were four games against Army.

“Ugh, 2-2 (record),” Lane said.

The annual Army-Navy game is Dec. 13 in Baltimore.

“It’s intense,” Lane said. “Every student is there so to be able to put on a show and beat Army and go through that together was huge and amazing.”

Was the urgency ratcheted up against Army?

“Oh, yeah, for sure,” Lane said. “It’s physical, it’s violent and it’s intense. Probably the most intense game I was a part of in all four seasons.”

5. Extra points: The win over Indianapolis clinched a winning season for the Jaguars on Dec. 7. The earliest winning-season clinch dates in team history are Nov. 21 (Game 10, 1999), Nov. 29 (Game 13, 1998) and Nov. 13 (Game 13, 1997), and the latest is Jan. 7, 2023 (Game 17 of 2022 season). … One leftover from my chat with Raines High School quarterback TJ Cole: His favorite NFL quarterbacks are the Rams’ Matthew Stafford and Buffalo’s Josh Allen. … A main reason why Jaguars-Denver on Dec. 21 wasn’t moved to Sunday primetime is the Broncos play at Kansas City on Thursday, Dec. 25, and the league avoids shortening the recovery time even by 3-4 hours.

Sunday selections

Jets at Jaguars: The Jaguars’ four wins by at least 16 points is tied for second-most in the NFL (Seattle and the Los Angeles Rams have five apiece). Make it five. Jaguars 31-13.

Top game — Buffalo at New England: The Patriots can wrap up the AFC East win a win, but the Bills have Josh Allen and the Patriots don’t. Bills 28-24.

Lock — Tennessee at San Francisco: The 49ers, off their bye, are a 12 1/2-point favorite over Tennessee, off a rare win. 49ers 38-14.

Upset — L.A. Chargers at Kansas City: And this is the end for the Chiefs (5 1/2-point favorite). The Chargers on a short week travel across two time zones and get the season sweep. Chargers 30-24.

Records: 2-2 last week, 29-21 overall.

Contact O’Halloran at rohalloran@gannett.com

This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Jaguars safety Eric Murray makes impact in return from neck injury