What They’re Saying About The Eagles

Here is what the national media are saying about the Eagles this week.

Mike Freeman of Bleacher Report talked to a few anonymous Eagles players and got their opinion on Chip Kelly:

“Chip is not a racist. The notion he is isn’t fair. The thing with Chip is he just doesn’t see you as a person. He sees you as a commodity. The more players get that, the better off they’ll be.”

The player added: “Chip’s attitude towards players doesn’t bother me. I actually like it. I know where I stand with him. You understand that he doesn’t want to be challenged so don’t f–king challenge him. It’s pretty simple. I get it. Some guys don’t.”

A second African-American Eagles player said: “He sets the agenda. You don’t follow it, you’re dead to him. That’s not racial. Some guys handle it well, some guys don’t.”

Doug Farrar of SI.com lists DeMarco Murray as the third-best running back in the NFL, behind Marshawn Lynch and Le’Veon Bell:

Murray led the league with 1,845 rushing yards in 2014, but according to some, he left a lot of big plays on the field and almost entirely benefited from Dallas’s outstanding offensive line. In truth, Murray did a lot to make his line look good, as well—he finished second behind Marshawn Lynch with 77 missed tackles caused in 2014, and he’s always been a more powerful runner than his 6’0″, 214-pound frame might indicate. Murray is more of a straight-line runner than one who will juke you out of your shoes, but he shows good vision and gap awareness on a consistent basis.

Will he ever put up another season like he did in 2014? The test comes this year, as Murray left for Philadelphia in free agency. He’ll be a big part of Chip Kelly’s running back rotation there, and Kelly does have a way of making things work very well for his backs. However, Philadelphia’s offensive line isn’t quite at Dallas’s level when it comes to run-blocking.

Andrew Kulp of Bleacher Report looks at how Darren Sproles can get some touches in the Eagles’ crowded backfield:

As amazing as Sproles’ first season in midnight green was, some couldn’t help feeling he was underutilized as a receiver, which has really been his bread and butter as an NFL player. Forty receptions were his fewest since 2008—Sproles’ breakout season with the San Diego Chargers.

Yet if training camp has been any indication, Sproles will be a lot more active in that capacity. Not only is he catching more passes out of the backfield, but he’s been lining up in the slot with greater frequency as well, as he often did prior to his arrival in Philly in three seasons for the New Orleans Saints.

Robert Mays of Grantland thinks Vinny Curry is one of the top young pass-rushers in the NFL:

Vinny Curry isn’t quite there yet, but at 27 and in a contract year, he might be by season’s end. I hate to do this to you, Barnwell, but we can start with last October’s Eagles-Giants game and that Sunday-night dumpster fire lit by the Giants offensive line.

Curry finished the game with two of the nine sacks he had on the season, and each of those showed off the slightly different ways in which he can be a handful for opposing lines. The first involved him turning a simple rip move to the outside into a bull rush. He really just shoved Justin Pugh back into the quarterback before dragging Eli Manning to the ground. I’m not even including the GIF for that one because this is a Disney-owned website, and we need to think of the children.

A few Eagles weren’t too happy about the Greg Hardy-sponsored banner that flew over practice yesterday, according to CBS Sports:

“A waste of money,” Eagles tackle Lane Johnson said. “I think he’s a hothead and gets carried away with himself. He’s going to have his hands full with [Jason Peters], I promise you that.”

Fletcher Cox was particularly miffed the action came during the national anthem.

“It would rub anybody the wrong way,” Cox said. “We came here today to salute the soldiers and then you look up during the national anthem and you see something like that. … I think it was real disrespectful to us and to the people who serve us.”