Eagles Notes: Chip Kelly On Falcons Loss

Photo by: Jeff Fusco.

Chip Kelly met with reporters today after last night’s loss to the Falcons. He discussed his quarterback’s health, his evaluation of several players and much more.

Here are some highlights from the press conference.

• Sam Bradford reportedly had an X-ray on his ankle after last night’s game, but his head coach isn’t concerned.

“Sam’s fine. I saw Sam on the plane, he said there’s no ill effects of anything.”

• Kelly also explained that Bradford’s early struggles weren’t solely on the quarterback. On one play, Josh Huff blocked instead of running a fade. On another, Nelson Agholor’s timing was off on a stop route. The Falcons’ defensive line also made it difficult for the Eagles to run the ball.

“I thought [Adrian] Clayborn and [Jonathan] Babineaux inside were disruptive forces early; defensive ends did a good job. We started to try to attack a little bit more in the second half on the outside, kept the ball to the perimeter. Because of what they were doing, we felt like we could throw the ball and that was the best way for us to move the football.”

• Julio Jones caught nine passes for 141 yards and two touchdowns. Even when focusing on him, it’s tough to game plan for the Falcons receiver.

“The plan with dealing with Julio is very difficult because he lines up in so many different spots. We had some doubles on him; we had safeties leaning towards him. In the first half … two of those plays were slant plays off of the run game. It was actually a designed run where Matt [Ryan] pulled up and fired the ball backside to him twice.”

• Although the secondary struggled as a whole, Kelly was very pleased with Malcolm Jenkins and Walter Thurmond. He explained that the Eagles used them as slot corners instead of at safety because they are the best and most experienced at the position.

“We all thought Malcolm had a really good game. He was very consistent in his coverage, no matter who they put in there.”

• Another defensive player who looked good was Kiko Alonso, who appears poised to get more snaps in upcoming games.

“He hadn’t played during the preseason, except for a little bit in the Jets final preseason game. So [we’re] still bringing him along, but you saw what he can do. We’ll see how those roles expand as we keep moving forward.”

• Kelly said he considered calling a timeout before Cody Parkey’s missed field goal in the fourth quarter, but he decided against it because there was enough time on the play clock. He also dismissed the notion that it’s time to panic about the kicker.

“I have total confidence in Cody Parkey. He was a Pro Bowl kicker last year. I think he’s an outstanding kicker. I’ve got total confidence in everyone in this organization right now.”

• Now that week one is in the books, the Eagles are starting to prepare for the Cowboys. Kelly revealed what the biggest focus heading into week two is.

“First and foremost: penalties. You go out and commit ten penalties against Dallas, and you’re probably going to end up on the wrong side of the stick. You got to clean up the things that we can control.”