TAMPA, Fla. — O.J. Murdock was still recovering from an injury that sidelined him all of last season, so the Tennessee Titans weren’t overly concerned when the receiver said he’d be a couple of days late reporting for training camp.

“I talked to him and just assumed it was a personal issue,” teammate Damian Williams said, recalling the last conversation he had with Murdock, who died Monday in an apparent suicide carried out in a car in front of his old high school in Tampa.

“It’s tough. He was always a happy guy who played around a lot and always had a smile on his face,” Williams added. “I definitely didn’t see it coming.”

Neither did one of Murdock’s former college coaches at Fort Hays State. Nor did Titans coach Mike Munchak or general manager Ruston Webster.

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