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By Sonny Jones

It took less than 24 hours for Larrell Murchison to officially return to the NFL. The East Bladen High graduate re-signed Wednesday with the Tennessee Titans as a member of their practice squad.

Murchison had been waived by Tennessee on Tuesday as NFL teams were required to trim rosters to 53 players.

It’s not a surprise that Murchison is back with Tennessee. He mentioned in July at his Community Fun Day held at Elizabethtown Middle School that he enjoyed playing for the Titans and loved living in Nashville.

It’s just a guess, but it’s likely Murchison was told when he was waived that he would be offered a spot on the 16-member practice squad. It’s not an uncommon practice among NFL teams to keep players that may come up a bit short of making the 53-man roster.

So, Murchison and the Titans were back at practice Wednesday. Tennessee is scheduled to open its season Sept. 11 at home against the New York Giants. It’s possible that Murchison will be in uniform for the Titans on opening day or at some point this season.

Practice squad players do everything that the game roster players do except play in the games, although there’s an exception to that rule. The NFL allows two practice squad players to be elevated to the active roster for game day, then revert back to the practice squad immediately following the game. A player can be elevated three times during the season and not count against the 53-player roster. After the third time, the practice squad player would have to be elevated to the 53-man roster before playing.

Also, a practice team player can immediately sign with any other NFL team and must be placed on its 53-man roster.

Murchison will earn $11,500 per week while on the practice squad, which is a nice chunk of change and would be $207,000 per year if he remained on the practice squad for the 18-week season, but it pales compared to the minimum $895,000 that third-year players earn, based on the current NFL Collective Bargaining Agreement. That works out to $49,722 for each week on the 53-man roster.

Bottom line: Murchison’s NFL career is far from over. Opportunities will come and you can believe, through hard work and perseverance, he’ll be ready when called.

• Schedule note: The Wilmington Laney at East Bladen football game on Sept. 9 will start at 7 p.m. Some early release of the Eagles schedule had it as a 6 p.m. start. Laney’s quarterback is Ty Little, who is the grandson of Mark and Ethel Little of Clarkton. Their son, Luke, is Laney’s head coach.

THURSDAY’S PICK TO CLICK

A.T. Perry to have a pair of touchdown catches as Wake Forest opens its season against VMI. Perry had a school-record 15 TD catches last season. He won’t have Sam Hartman throwing the ball, but the Deacons have planty of talent.

WEDNESDAY’S PICK: Anett Kontaveit will need three sets to beat Serena Williams in the second round of the U.S. Open. The crowd will be with Serena, as they should, and Williams will give it her best, but the second-seeded Kontaveit is a tough match-up. RESULTS: The match went three sets, but it was Williams who came out the winner 7-6 (4), 2-6, 6-2.

WHAT TO WATCH TODAY

• DP WORLD TOUR: Made in Himmerland, 7 a.m., GOLF

• IIHF WOMEN’S HOCKEY: United States vs. Hungary, 10 a.m., NHLN

• TENNIS: U.S. Open, noon, ESPN

• MLB: Seattle at Detroit, 1 p.m., MLBN

• LPGA: Dana Open, 1 p.m., GOLF

• SOCCER: Manchester United at Leicester City, 3 p.m., USA

• MLB: LA Dodgers at NY Mets or Oakland at Washington, 4 p.m., MLBN

• KORN FERRY: Tour Championship, 4 p.m., GOLF

• TENNIS: U.S. Open, 6 p.m., ESPN2

• MLB: Texas at Boston or Colorado at Atlanta, 7 p.m., MLBN

• FOOTBALL: West Virginia at Pittsburgh, 7 p.m., ESPN