Kelly: Surprised By Boykin’s Comments

Last night, Chip Kelly traded Brandon Boykin to the Steelers for a conditional fifth-round pick. This morning, Boykin claimed Kelly was “uncomfortable around grown men of our culture.” Kelly responded to Boykin’s comments during today’s press conference and also touched on a few other hot topics. Here’s a quick rundown.

• Kelly stated he didn’t understand why the topic of him treating players unfairly keeps coming up, stating, “I don’t know, talking to [Boykin] last night, he was stunned, he was disappointed. I think he really liked it here. He was very close with his teammates.

“It did, it really [surprised me]. When he left here last night, he shook my hand and gave me a hug, he didn’t say anything.

“You know, he did everything we asked him to do here, we never had an issue with him, he was a great teammate, very well-liked.”

Kelly often deflects questions about what he thinks about people’s perception, but he did admit that it bothers him personally. “Yeah, it does [bother me], but the reality is you have 90 guys and you’re going to have to cut down to 53 so 37 guys are going to be disappointed and I would imagine they have a different opinion than we do.”

The pick the Eagles got in return for Boykin will become a fourth-rounder if he plays 60% of the Steelers defensive snaps.

• Kelly also said that there is no way Mychal Kendricks will be traded before the season. “No we haven’t had any had any other [trade] discussions,” Kelly said. “Mychal Kendricks is not going anywhere, I can tell you that right now. You can write that down in ink, not pencil.”

• Chip also spoke about Sam Bradford’s health and said the quarterback, along with everyone else on the roster, is a full go for all activities and will be ready to play during the first preseason game. “Barring anything happening now, he’s a full go, 100%,” said Kelly. “When you talk to him, he had a great offseason from when we left on June 18 to now, he feels really confident, he”s not going to play with a brace, in our training sessions out here he feels comfortable without it, so he’s ready to go.”

Kelly also said he wasn’t sure how Bradford and Mark Sanchez would divide up snaps with the first-team, claiming QB coach Ryan Day would be in charge of that.

We will have more updates at the conclusion of today’s practice.