Did a former Eagles receiver take another swipe at the former Eagles' coach?
Jeremy Maclin was among former Eagles this weekend to speak on the reported (now confirmed) hiring of Kansas City Chiefs offensive coordinator Doug Pederson as Eagles' head-coach. Maclin's opinion holds quite a bit of weight because Pederson coached him in both Philadelphia and Kansas City.
His first public comment came to Derrick Gunn of CSN Philly, and he went out of his way to speak positively about Pederson.
"I think he understands the personalities around a locker room. I think that's the first important step of being a head coach," former Eagle Jeremy Maclin said, via Comcast SportsNet's Derrick Gunn. "I'm excited about what he does in the future up there in Philly. … I think Philly should be excited.
"He's a guy who understands how things are supposed to be done. I think he's going to do great things. I'm excited for him. He deserves it, and I'm looking forward to seeing what he does up there."
Maclin took to Twitter today to continue his praise of Pederson, though it seemed to come with a subtle shot at Chip Kelly.
Excited for Doug…Philly is getting someone who understands everything that factors into it all not just X's and O's….good luck Doug!
— Jeremy Maclin (@jmac___19) January 18, 2016
Perhaps we are just going out of our way to hear player's opinions on Kelly, but Maclin possibly thinking that Kelly thinks "it's just all X's and O's," seems to fit the description that some of his biggest detractors have had. Frankly, Maclin leading off his statement over the weekend by praising Pederson's ability to "understand the personalities around a locker room" probably was his way of alluding to him thinking that he didn't believe Kelly did a good job of that.
Maclin explained to the Kansas City Star last summer that a big part of him choosing to sign with the Chiefs over re-signing with the Eagles was how the Chiefs made him feel more wanted, with the article hinting that Kelly struggled to do the same. Maclin may still feel slighted by how those negotiations went, and given how much better his season went than Kelly's, it's fair to ask if not doing more to keep Maclin was one of Kelly's biggest mistakes.
