By Jack Ryan
Eagles Supreme Leader Chip Kelly came loaded for bear when he met with the media at noon today on this, the last day of the team’s first OTAs.
He only spent about 15 minutes taking questions, the first time he has done so since the NFL draft ended at the beginning of May.
Some of the highlights:
On LeSean McCoy’s claim that he got rid of all the good black players: “I’ve got great respect regarding LeSean, but in this case he’s wrong. We weigh a lot of factors when we evaluate players, but color is not one of them.”
Kelly said he did not see it as a problem n the locker room, “just ask the players,” he said.
He also said he called McCoy twice, but the Buffalo running back never responded.
Who’s not practicing: Quarterback Sam Bradford, coming off an ACL tear, safety Earl Wolff (knee) and linebacker Marcus Smith (groin) are all out.
On the secondary: Kelly said free agent addition Walter Thurmond would be at safety. He also said Nolan Carroll has looked great and has a shot to win the cornerback spot opposite Byron Maxwell.
Kelly added that this is as deep as the secondary has been in his three years, but that only safety Malcolm Jenkins and cornerback Byron Maxwell are definite starters.
On Bradford: “Sam’s on schedule,” Kelly said. “He’ll be throwing next week.”
On Tim Tebow: “You’ll see him [this afternoon],” Kelly said. “We wanted another guy, a fourth quarterback. We looked at the draft prospects, the free agents available. We thought he was the best fit for us.”
Kelly added that Tebow is a quarterback and is not being looked at any other position.
On the new PAT rule: “I don’t think they changed much,” he said. “I don’t think they enticed you to go for two. They left the ball at the 2.”
The Eagles wanted the ball mocked to the 1 for a two-point conversion. They did move the ball back to the 15 for extra point kicks.
“We’re 43-for-45 from that distance the past two years,” Kelly said.
On the absence of Evan Mathis: “I haven’t heard from him,” Kelly said.
