Kelly On 2,000 Yards: ‘I Don’t Care’

FOXBORO, MASS. — Chip Kelly was asked today what he thinks about LeSean McCoy’s chances of gaining 2,000 yards this year.

“I don’t care,” Kelly said. “I really don’t care, and he knows that. And I’ve told him that. All we care about is: Are we winning football games? So we’ve never been driven by individual statistics, and he understands that. But if you ask him if he’d rather win a football game and run for 50 yards… or run for 200 yards and lose a football game, he’ll tell you he’d rather run for 50 and win a game.”

McCoy Tweeted about his quest for 2,000 yards recently, but clarified today that it was just part of a promotional campaign.

“I do a lot of joking with a lot of things,” he said. “I didn’t know it would be this big of a deal. And a lot of it was for Bounce.”

But would you like to hit 2K?

“Who wouldn’t like to do it?” he said. “What player wouldn’t? If I go out there and I get 50 yards, we win and [Nick] Foles goes for 400, I won’t care. We win. And that doesn’t take anything from me as a player, and I’m fine with that, whereas other players might not.”

The coach and star running back have a fascinating relationship. McCoy led the NFL in yards from scrimmage last year, but Kelly continues to push him as if he were a rookie. McCoy, to his credit, said he appreciates that.

“I don’t know how he treats other players,” he said. “I know how he treats me. And I like it. …Coach pushes me to the max more than any coach I’ve ever been around. Coach [Andy] Reid, he pushed me hard. Once I kind of got to a point, he lets the veterans go a little bit. But Chip is constantly on me. And it’s all positive. He’s never yelled. He never says anything negative, just always positive. Just trying to get me to go. And I like it like that. I do. I like my coach to tell me good and bad cause everything’s not always good. …I want to hear it.”

FOLES STUDYING UP ON BRADY

Foles has talked throughout the offseason about how he’s studied some of the great quarterbacks. That group includes Tom Brady.

“Whenever he’s going, I’m watching him,” he said. “…Tom’s one of the best to ever play the game. It’s great to watch him to see how he conducts an offense and see where he throws the ball. It’s great being out here from a learning standpoint.

“He puts the ball where a receiver can get it and he’s smart with it. If he has underneath stuff, he takes it right away and moves on to the next play. So I think that’s big. He’s really good at play-action fakes, really just movement in the pocket. I think everyone knows about his movement in the pocket and staying away from pressure.”

Added Kelly: “You’re watching a first ballot Hall of Famer, one of the best quarterbacks to ever play the game. So I think everybody, when you get a chance to watch someone that’s as good as they are at their craft, I think you can learn a lot of different things. That’s the unique thing when you get to participate in situations like this, when you’re not in, what are you doing?

“Nick’s a student of the game, and for him to get a chance to watch Tom up close and personal in terms of how he interacts, what he does pre-snap, what he’s doing post-snap… a lot of times on film you don’t see that because the camera’s not on him. I think anybody can garner anything from that. And when you get a chance to see someone as special a football player as Tom is, I think it’s a credit to this whole operation in terms of what we can get accomplished, not only in the work we can get, but when you’re watching other people work. So that’s a positive for him.”

Brady and Foles chatted after today’s practice, but Brady said he hasn’t had time to watch Foles during the week.

“I haven’t seen him much,” Brady said. “Truthfully, it’s hard enough preparing for my own job, and that’s all I’m really focused on – being the best for our team. I’m just really locked in on what I need to do every day in practice and what I’ve got to bring to my teammates, which is positive energy and enthusiasm, especially on days like this, where not all the forces are with you. But you’ve got to learn to be mentally tough enough to push through. It’s a challenging job all the time, so it’s really 100 percent effort to do what I have to do to help our team.”