Afternoon Links: Why the Parting Shots?

DeSean Jackson cried foul over the way he was shown the exit in Philly. LeSean McCoy and Tra Thomas brought up race. Cary Williams took aim at the team’s conditioning practices and said the Eagles were outcoached down the stretch last season. Even Trent Cole fired off a tweet exclaiming “No respect!” after being released.

The latest comments from Jackson claiming that he was the victim of a smear campaign in Philly led to the following debate topic on NFL Network: Why do former Eagles continue to take shots at Chip Kelly?

“I think it has in large part to do with, when you are a professional athlete, you are a man,” said Jamie Dukes, who was an offensive lineman in the league for 10 seasons. “And  Chip Kelly I think has made the mistake that we’ve seen Nick Saban make, Greg Schiano — who I really like but I think he made the mistake and admitted to it…This college thing. You can’t make grown men who are millionaires adhere to this college thing. For example, on game day riding a team bus at home…”

“Or going full-speed practices on a Saturday when that’s kind of the walkthrough day getting ready for the big game on Sunday,” added Willie McGinest. “And I agree. A lot of times you are dealing with individual franchises. You’ve got to look at these players like individual franchises with opinions, and a lot of them are outspoken and have opinions that they want to talk about and say. If you come in with that type of mentality, then a lot of players are going to be like, ‘Hold on. What have you done? How much experience have you had?’ If you want a player to buy in, you’ve got to be able to communicate. Everybody is not just going to fall in line.”

— Andy Benoit of MMQB on what may come of the Sam Bradford experiment.

In Philly, where the fast tempo leaves little time for pre-snap diagnostics, it’s all about defined reads. The system, especially in the aerial department, is the most simplistic in pro football. (How do you think all 11 Eagles are always able to play so fast?) Kelly’s playbook has essentially seven or eight total plays. But there’s an illusion of complexity because those plays are run out of many different formations. Any quarterback, particularly one with Bradford’s quick release, has a chance to prosper just by going through the correct motions.

We’ll learn two things about Bradford in 2015: (1) whether the 27-year-old’s once-promising career can ever get off the ground, and (2) whether Kelly can be convinced—truly convinced—that his system can function satisfactorily without a mobile quarterback. It’s this second item that has the rest of the NFL watching with bated breath. Kelly’s M.O. is the trendiest in football right now. His concepts are being copied more than anyone’s. If Bradford recognizes his full potential here, the copycatting will intensify. Maybe even to the degree of a league-wide revolution.

— Eliot Harrison of NFL.com put together NFL coach power rankings, and has Kelly at No. 13.

After talking to people around the NFL Media offices and perusing the various opinions in the social media universe, it would seem there are legions of people out there who would take Kelly as their head coach in a second. No relatively new coach has received the kind of pub Kelly has over the last two years. So how good is he? Well, he’s compiled a 20-12 regular-season record and made a one-and-done appearance in the 2013 playoffs. While his system hasn’t exactly revolutionized the league as some expected, you have to give the man props for doing what he’s done with quarterbacks like Nick Foles and Mark Sanchez.