After Sit Down With Cary Williams, Chip Kelly Says All Is Good
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) — Chip Kelly has a wonderful way of quartering off all the white noise. Call it deflecting, call it wise guy smugness, call anything you want, you can't—nor won't—jostle the Eagles' coach.
Not even his own players can do that.
Kelly addressed a number of issues on Monday after the Eagles moved to 3-0 for the first time since 2004, including his depleted offensive line, center Jason Kelce's status, his team's fistic ways and his languid cornerback Cary Williams, who voiced his weariness to the media from Kelly's demanding practicing after the Eagles' outlasted the Redskins, 37-34, on Sunday.
Kelly said he spoke to Williams on Monday. He said he respects the veteran cornerback. He likes Williams' competitiveness.
Williams said it was more than just him that were "Burnt out." Kelly refuted that, when asked if he had the sense more players felt the way Williams did.
"No, and I know we ask our guys to run a lot during practice," Kelly said. "I met with Cary just a little while ago, he came to my office on his own today and I visited with him. I think he was frustrated, and I understand that. Cary's a competitor. I have no issues with Cary.
"We assess everybody daily, and we monitor every player daily, so it's all done on an individual basis. You'll see some guys not going full on a day, and other guys that are going full. We take care of everybody on that basis. We factor everything in. We look at every player as an individual, so what we do with Trent Cole is different than what we do with Marcus Smith, and DeMeco Ryans is different than Casey Matthews. Every player on a daily basis, we sit down with every guy, is it a hamstring, is it a hip, is it a shoulder. Everyone is different. We're aware of that, and that's the way we've always handled it.
The Eagles have outscored their three opponents 94-24 in the second half this season. That could lend credence to Kelly's sports science system, with his team being stronger in the second half of games.
"I think that's part of it, and part of it is we haven't gotten off to great starts either so it's a combination of both," Kelly said. "Cary is a competitor, and he'll tell you he got frustrated. I told him he could come to me. My door is always open. Anyone can always come and talk to me.
The Eagles finished with an offensive line that went, left to right, Andrew Gardner at left tackle, replacing the ejected Jason Peters, new acquisition Wade Smith at left guard, replacing the moved Dennis Kelly, David Molk at center, replacing the injured Jason Kelce, Kelly moved to right guard replacing Todd Herremans, who was moved to right tackle, where Gardner started the game.
Against San Francisco this coming Sunday, the Eagles could look like this left-to-right: Peters, Dennis Kelly, Molk, Herremans and possibly Matt Tobin at right tackle.
Kelly said he had not timetable for the return of Kelce, who suffered a hernia on Sunday and will undergo surgery, which could put Kelce out for six weeks. What makes Kelce exceptional, aside from his athleticism and feet, is he calls on the Eagles' line changes.
Can Molk, who this time last year was coaching high school football, do the same?
"Molk is good, he's just not Jason right now because he doesn't have the experience in our system," Kelly said. "Molk is a smart football player and he understands what's going on out there. We didn't have any issues [against the Redskins] when Molk was in the game. Our system is driven that way. Our center makes the calls in terms of setting the front, and where we're going."
When Kelly was asked about the fight that broke out between the two teams, in reference to Peters going after Washington's Chris Baker, who leveled Nick Foles with 9:55 left in the fourth quarter with appeared to be a blindside cheap shot, Kelly commented, "next question."
Kelly couldn't come out publicly and condone Peters' action, rushing to the aid of his quarterback and tossing punches. But there was a hint of a whimsical smile when he responded.
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