Amidst the 27-23 loss to the Cowboys at FedExField on Sunday, Trent Murphy stood out as a positive note by performing at a high level and showing improvement that stood out to his teammates.

Following the loss to the Dallas Cowboys on Sunday, it may be difficult for the Redskins to find much to be enthusiastic about right now.

But despite the disappointment that comes from starting off the year 0-2, there are bright spots to be found in the team's play the last two weeks. And one of those is third-year linebacker Trent Murphy.

Murphy had a strong performance in Week 2, recording a sack and a half, a forced fumble and six combined tackles while spending much of the game at defensive end, a position he started out at during training camp before being asked to move back to linebacker.

While the impressive stat line is certainly a sign of an excellent performance, Murphy and others believe it should be even better.

"A little birdie tells me it was supposed to be two sacks so I'm going to see if I can steal that back," Murphy said with a smile.

A significant area that the defense hoped to improve in this week was stopping the run after allowing 147 yards in the Week 1 loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers. The team did better against the Cowboys, especially considering the threat of two strong running backs, rookie Ezekiel Elliott and former Redskins player Alfred Morris, giving up only 102.

Even if the number may not be as much of an improvement as the team was hoping for, the growth can also be seen past just what the statistics reflect.

"We wanted to stop the run," Murphy said. "We played better together as a unit. We had a couple guys go down in the game, so say a prayer for them hopefully they're doing fine, but we just got to come back to work and get ready to go next week and get a 'W' next week."

Among the players who the Redskins were without by the end of the game was nose tackle Kedric Golston, who suffered a hamstring injury. Murphy's performance was that much more impactful as the defense needed help to fill the roles of those who suffered injuries.

"Yeah, (Murphy) did really well," linebacker Ryan Kerrigan said. "He had a great week of practice, so I'm not really surprised he did so well. He's really improved his craft over the years. He did well today."

An impressive individual performance from Murphy is certainly something that this team can build off of as they are already moving on and beginning to prepare to face the Giants on the road next week.

Murphy's ability to get pressure and assert more of a presence against a tough Cowboys offensive line should give him confidence in the next battle with Dallas this season, which he is already looking forward to down the road.

"It's tough not to hang your head after that one, but that rivalry runs deep, it's been going on for years," Murphy said. "No matter the record of each team, no matter the circumstances it's going to be a great game. They're a good team, they're young, but they're a good and so you just got to buckle up and move on to next week and look forward to getting them next time we face them."