Eagles' Kicker Situation Still Seems Unsteady
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) — Chip Kelly parcels out truths sometimes in cloaked references and subtleties. The Eagles' coach doesn't appear to be hiding how uncomfortable he feels when it comes to his kicking situation entering what is supposed to be a very promising 2014 season.
The Eagles acquired kicker Cody Parkey from Indianapolis, which isn't exactly a ringing endorsement of Eagles' incumbent kicker Alex Henery. Asked if two weeks and one preseason game is enough time to evaluate Parkey, Kelly said, "You've got to do it. You've got to do it. We'll kick today a little bit. We have kicking periods during the week, and we have a game to play against the Jets on Thursday, and we'll see what opportunities give us a chance to express and see how it is. If we don't score any points, we don't get an opportunity. You can say hey, I want this guy to get six kicks. He may not get an opportunity to kick two.
"Sometimes that's out of your hands in terms of that. We hope we get some situations against the Jets where we get an opportunity to kick, but you never know. So we'll kick today in practice. We'll kick during the week in practice with the two of those guys and we'll figure it out after that."
Parkey is going to give this situation a good shot. He said that he's here to compete for the job, which was why the former Auburn kicker tried Indianapolis first.
"The main focus was winning the job in Indianapolis and I really wasn't concerned with other teams, to be honest," said Parkey, who made 15 of 21 field-goal attempts at Auburn, including a 43-yarder, a pair of 47-yarders, and a 52-yarder. "I'm worried about me and making my kicks. Coach [Dave Fipp, the Eagles' special teams coach] worked me at Auburn, and I thought I did pretty well. After that, I thought Indianapolis was a great opportunity for me."
Henery said the competition is making him even sharper. "It's one of those things and you take what you can from the other guy, it pushes you and helps you out in the long run," Henery said. "I can't be worried about it."
But you get the sense that the Eagles—and Kelly—are.
