Eagles Bring In Replay Man
Chip Kelly has brought in a replay man.
The Eagles recently added former ACC senior replay official and Northeast Philadelphia resident Frank Kosman to the staff, according to a league source.
Among other duties, Kosman will apparently be responsible for helping Kelly decide whether to throw the challenge flag on Sundays. That job previously fell to offensive coordinator Pat Shurmur.
The Eagles were 3-of-7 on challenges last year, which was tied for 17th in the NFL. There were some shaky moments over the course of the season, including in Green Bay last November when a 36-yard Jarrett Boykin completion went unchallenged despite visual evidence that showed his hand was out of bounds before he got his second foot down.
The NFL tweaked the replay process for this season. Referees are getting an assist from officials stationed in New York who can cue up the right replays to watch and communicate with the on-field ref about the play in question before the ref goes under the hood. That’s intended to speed up the process and ensure the correct call.
Kelly is taking measures to be sure he gets it right on his end as well.
Injuries
Matt Tobin (ankle) and Josh Huff (shoulder) did not participate in Thursday’s practice. Huff said that his shoulder is at about 85 percent health. He anticipates getting back on the practice field in one-and-a-half weeks, but isn’t sure when he’ll be game ready.