Today, the Philadelphia Eagles had their final full practice before their first preseason game this Sunday against the Indianapolis Colts at 1 p.m.
Prior to today's practice, head coach Chip Kelly addressed the media.
Coach Kelly explained his reasoning behind sitting out quarterback Sam Bradford for the team's first preseason game.
"I know he's disappointed, but it's just my call," Kelly said. "There's a fine line. Part of it, you look at what happened to Niles Paul last night for the Redskins who's a tremendous player who's done for the year right now. So there's that fine line in preseason games where you are. So his first 11-on-11 was two weeks ago and now going out against a team, it's just my decision."
Quarterback Mark Sanchez is expected to start. Matt Barkley and Tim Tebow will take the bulk of the snaps under center on Sunday.
Also, Chip identified what, or who, is holding back DeMarco Murray from practicing every day at Eagles training camp.
"Me," Kelly said in a one-word answer. "He also carried the ball more than anyone in the NFL last year. We're just trying to integrate him into what we're doing."
Kelly notified the media that tight end Zach Ertz will miss all the preseason with a groin injury. He feels that it is better to deal with his issue now than to deal with it at sometime during the regular season.
"I don't know [if Ertz needs a procedure,]" Kelly said. "But, whatever it is, Dr. [William] Myers thinks it will be a couple of weeks and thinks he'll be fine by the opener. So I said, 'If we got to shut him down now, I'd rather shut him down now than sometime in the middle of the season."
Lastly, Kelly told the media that he expects linebacker Kiko Alonso to be ready for the team's second preseason game against the Baltimore Ravens.
"Kiko's fine," Kelly said. "Well he's doing stuff in there [Novacare Complex,] but we haven't asked to get him cleared because right now it's not important to us… it's just make sure that he's in meetings, he's understanding everything, he's doing everything in there and when we get ready, he'll be ready to go play against the Ravens hopefully. "
In related news, the Eagles made a couple of roster moves today.
The team waived outside linebacker Brandon Hepburn and defensive end B.J. McBryde due to injuries.
In addition, the team claimed defensive end Alfy Hill.
Hill initially played college ball for the Alabama Crimson Tide, but he played his last two seasons at Winston Salem State. Last year in school, the 6'3", 283-pound defensive end accumulated 7.5 sacks and 29 tackles.
The Eagles will hold a walk-through session tomorrow before playing the Colts on Sunday at Lincoln Financial Field.
Michael Malia is a contributing intern for Eagledelphia. Follow him on Facebook (Michael Malia) or Twitter @Michael_Malia.
