Russell Wilson (photo above) “puts himself in a situation where if he can run for a touchdown, he’s going to do it. If he can run for a first down, he’s going to do it. But he is also not going to try to take on a middle linebacker where he knows he isn’t going to win that battle.”
By Jack Ryan
Now that Eagles coach Chip Kelly dispensed with the ludicrous notion that he would be interested in leaving the Eagles to coach at the University of Florida — spoiler alert, Florida just hired the Colorado State coach to fill the job, and I bet you can’t name him — he got down to new business:
Blowing smoke up the ass of the quarterback his Birds will be facing Sunday at the Linc — Russell Wilson.
“The one thing he doesn’t do is, he doesn’t put himself in harm’s way,” Kelly said. “He isn’t trying to run people over. He is looking to literally go first-down, touchdown, get down.”
Wilson’s play is a stark contrast from Kelly’s quarterback last season — Michael Vick, now of the New York Jets.
“In our first game against Washington, (running back LeSean) McCoy bounces the ball to the outside, and Mike is out there lead blocking,” Kelly recalled of the season opener last season. “It’s like ‘No, Mike, no!’ We don’t need you to lead block!
“That is one of the things that made Mike such a great player,” Kelly argued, “he wanted to win every snap he was out there.”
Wilson ” puts himself in a situation where if he can run for a touchdown, he’s going to do it. If he can run for a first down, he’s going to do it,” Kelly said. “But he is also not going to try to take on a middle linebacker where he knows he isn’t going to win that battle.”
Kelly, who has installed the read option with the Eagles, says Wilson is one of the best he has seen at making the correct read.
“He is just a great athlete,” Kelly said. “He has legitimate speed and quickness where he can get yards off of the disconnect (with the running back). He is a really, really good decision maker, so it makes him a legitimate threat. The ball can be handed off or he can keep it. You have to know what he is going to do. “
