(Reuters) - Tennessee Titans wide receiver O.J. Murdock died on Monday of an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound, Tampa police said.

Murdock, 25, was found by police in his car in front of his former high school in Tampa Bay around 8:30 a.m. ET Monday and was taken to hospital in a critical condition where he died at 10:43 a.m., police said in a statement.

The receiver, who signed with the Titans as an undrafted free agent last year, had spent the last year battling back from an Achilles injury and did not report to the team's training camp this month due to personal reasons.

"We are shocked and saddened to hear of O.J. Murdock's death this morning," the Titans said in a statement. "In his brief time here, a number of our players, coaches and staff had grown close to O.J., and this is a difficult time for them."

Murdock never appeared in a National Football League game for the Titans.

(Reporting by Frank Pingue in Toronto, editing by Mark Meadows)