Eagles Notes: Chip Talks Sunday Weather

According to Chip Kelly, NFL coaches watch the weather as much as anything else. That might normally be an exaggeration, but this week, the claim holds some water.

With the league eyeing the trajectory of Hurricane Joaquin as it tracks towards the Northeast, Kelly fielded plenty of questions about how his team is preparing for a potential rainstorm when the Eagles head to Washington this Sunday.

Will they play?

“I hope so,” Kelly said. “We’re preparing to play on Sunday, but there’s been nothing definitive in terms of what’s going to go on. There’s been nothing told to us. We’re preparing like today’s just a normal Thursday.

“If they make an adjustment, we’ll make an adjustment.”

Kelly said there’s not much the team can control in terms of equipment on game day, beyond players changing their cleats, which he said they do every pre-game anyway.

As far as his game plan is concerned, Kelly said he keeps an eye on the weather each week, which informs certain aspects of the plan, however minor.

“I think every coach, we watch the weather more than we watch anything,” Kelly said. “You’re always trying to get updates, see where you are. You’re preparing for wind, you’re preparing for rain. Part of it becomes on game day, you’re going to have to figure it out, because which way is the wind blowing? Is it behind you? Is it a cross-wind?”

Kelly harkened back to the famed Snow Bowl in 2013, when he said he and the coaches were told the field would receive “a light dusting” of snow after halftime.

“I remember going out in pregame and going, ‘Wow, this is a little more than a light dusting,'” Kelly said, drawing a laugh. “And then I don’t know what happened in that 15 or 20 minutes we went into the locker room. When we came back out, I couldn’t even see my feet. But you just had to make do with it.

“We’re big on, if we can’t control it — and, obviously, no one can control the weather — we’ll adjust accordingly.”

Kelly said team president Don Smolenski is in charge of potential contingency talks with the league, if the game needs to be postponed or moved due to extreme conditions.

Here are some highlights from the rest of Kelly’s press conference.

— Kelly said that Kiko Alonso is “obviously” out for this weekend’s game after the linebacker spent all week in Florida having his knee evaluated by Dr. Andrews. Kelly reiterated that Alonso will be back on Friday.

— Mychal Kendricks “went through all” of Wednesday’s practice, Kelly said, and will continue to be evaluated as the week goes on. DeMarco Murray was “limited” on Wednesday, and will also continue to be monitored.

— Kelly was asked about the Eagles using Washington’s official team name in light of recent revelations that the team’s media guides and other media tools seem to be omitting the name.

“I have a lot of personal beliefs on things,” Kelly said after a brief pause, “but my belief doesn’t affect what that name is, so they can do what they want to do.”

— An injury update from practice, from T-Mac: Jason Peters, Chris Maragos and Riley Cooper all participated in the early portion of Thursday’s practice.