Patrick Causey, on Twitter @PatrickCausey
Philadelphia Eagles head coach Chip Kelly spoke to the media on Tuesday and addressed a broad range of topics, including Evan Mathis' release, Sam Bradford's health, the offensive line depth, and Cary Williams criticisms of the Eagles. Here are some of the highlights:
The decision to release Evan Mathis
Chip Kelly said the Eagles released Evan Mathis because they "were asked by his agent for a release on multiple occasions."
Kelly also said the Eagles were not going to come to an agreement with Mathis on a contract extension or renegotiation, so the Eagles "granted him what his agent asked for."
According to Kelly, the Eagles had repeatedly asked Mathis to honor his contract over the last two-years. But Mathis made it clear that he did not want to honor that contract. When asked whether he believed Mathis would report to camp, Kelly said "I don't know."
Kelly also said the team discussed the idea of keeping Mathis on board until training camp to see if a team suffered any injuries, thus making Mathis a more valuable trade chip, but decided to give Mathis what he wanted. "We discussed everything. But we felt if he didn't want to be here, I wanted Evan to get whatever he can get and I hope it works out for him. He was great for us in the two years we had him and I like Evan a lot." Kelly also said the timing of the release was to allow Mathis the opportunity to catch on with a team before mandatory mini-camps began.
According to Kelly, the Eagles did not release Mathis last season because Mathis did not request to be released. And they did not release Mathis before free agency because they were hoping to trade him leading up to the NFL draft.
According to Les Bowen of the Philadelphia Daily News, Evan Mathis "said any release request would have occurred "no time recently'' — meaning he might have welcomed being released when free agency was in full swing, when teams had cap room and hadn't drafted yet, but he wasn't really looking to be released in June." Mathis further stated: "If he was so willing to oblige my release, why didn't he sign or draft any OL?" Mathis asked, via text.
In other words, Mathis was ticked about the timing of his release, since it robbed him of the opportunity to test free agency. However, given that the Eagles were looking to trade him leading up to the draft, I cannot fault the Eagles for holding onto Mathis until now.
The Eagles offensive line depth
Despite losing a "good football player," Kelly stated the Eagles were "confident in the guys [they] have and that's why [the Eagles] made the decision [they] made." Kelly did not see any drop in athleticism in the offensive line from this time last year, noting that the Eagles would not be changing their plays or schemes to adjust to the new faces up front.
The guys they have include Allen Barbre, Matt Tobin, and Andrew Gardner. Barbre figures to be locked in at Mathis' old slot in left guard, leaving Tobin and Gardner to fight it out for the right guard spot formerly manned by Todd Herremans.
Kelly said that Allen Barbre is an "outstanding football player" that just got hurt at the start of last season. According to Kelly, "whenever he's had to play for us, he's played extremely well for us," and that the Eagles "were excited about moving forward with him."
With respect to Matt Tobin, Kelly said he needs to improve his consistency: "at times, I think Matt's played really well for us, but I think he needs to be more consistent and not just flash at times." He acknowledged that Tobin suffered a significant ankle injury last year that perhaps set him back in his ability to play at a high level. But Kelly also believes there is good competition between Tobin, Gardner, Dennis Kelly and Kevin Graf.
One of the things Kelly likes about his depth along the offensive line is the positional versatility each player possess. Kelly said that it is a requirement for his backups to be able to play more than one position given the limited number of roster spots available on game day: "you have to have guys like that. If you're not a starter, and we dress seven guys on game day, someone has to be a center/guard, someone has to be a guard/tackle, cause that's all you're dressing. If you're not in the top five, you need to have versatility in terms of your ability to play."
I wrote before about the issues surrounding the Eagles offensive line; namely, it's lack of depth and old age. Kelly seems confident in the players they have on the roster. Only time will tell whether Kelly's confidence was warranted. No doubt the play of the offensive line will go a long way towards dictating how the Eagles 2015 season turns out.
Responding to Cary Williams' comments
Chip Kelly attempted to deflect any questions about the criticism Cary Williams had for the Eagles strength and conditioning program. But reporters would not let him off the hook.
When a reporter explained to Kelly that Williams said the team was burnt out last year down the stretch, Kelly took the bait: "I talked to the rest of the players on our team. Malcolm Jenkins said he felt the best in his entire career after playing the most snaps." Kelly also stated that Williams opinion was in the minority, and the "majority of players would tell you that they felt great at the end of the season."
Kelly stated the Eagles did not change their methods after Williams' initial criticisms last year, and that the Eagles program is "all based on science."
Sam Bradford
Chip Kelly said that Bradford would stick with 7-on-7 drills, not do any 11-on-11 drills at this time.
But when asked whether he thinks Bradford would be ready for 11-on-11 drills at training camp, Kelly responded: "God we hope so."
So do we Chip, so do we.
Full video of his presser can be seen here.
