Chip Kelly on Nick Foles' interceptions, the abundance of penalties, and more from 34-28 preseason loss
CHICAGO – Chip Kelly was not concerned about Nick Foles' two-interception performance after the Eagles' 34-28 loss to the Bears in the preseason opener. He wanted to analyze the film to dissect the particulars of the two interception, but he also wanted to keep the first preseason game in perspective.
"It's one preseason game," Kelly said. "You get X amount of snaps. We'll make corrections and go from there."
Foles' two interceptions were half of the Eagles' four turnovers in the loss. Kelly said the Eagles were "careless," and that the importance of turnovers does not change in the preseason.
"We turned the ball over too many times on the offensive side of the ball if you're going to win football games," Kelly said.
He said Foles needs to throw the ball away under pressure instead of forcing it into a spot to try to make a play, which happened on Foles' first interception.
Kelly also was disappointed at the penalties. The Eagles were charged with nine penalties. Kelly said that the officials who visited camp focused on the back end, and the Eagles must work on avoiding penalties at the line of scrimmage.
"We knew it going in, the officials were going to call it closer," Kelly said.
Some other points from Kelly:
-- Kelly was impressed with backup quarterback Mark Sanchez, who finished 7 of 10 for 79 yards in the second quarter. Sanchez appeared sharp running the up-tempo offense and is close to entrenching himself as the No. 2 quarterback.
"I thought Mark did a really nice job," Kelly said. "I thought he played calm. He had poise about him. Put the ball on the money."
--The Eagles' first-team defense did not sack Bears quarterback Jay Cutler, and struggled to apply pressure on a 69-yard scoring drive in the first quarter. The Eagles did not make any changes with their starting front seven during the offseason, so they're counting on internal improvements.
"We got Jay to move his feet a couple times early, but that one long drive, we got to put a little more pressure on him," Kelly said.
-- Jordan Matthews has excelled throughout training camp, but the second-round pick's debut was a down performance. Matthews finished with four catches for 14 yards, and missed three passes that could have been completions.
"I thought he was just inconsistent," Kelly said. "I don't know if he was pressing or whatever. But there were some inconsistencies there. Some guys, it's the first time in the bright lights, get the chance to get that out of the system, get a deep breath."
-- Josh Huff had a 102-yard kickoff return for a touchdown. He struggled on his other returns, but the Eagles' third-round pick displayed game-breaking ability that his former college coach was happy to see. Kelly praised Huff's speed and power.
"It's good to know you got a kick returner who can finish things," Huff said. "Sometimes, if you don't have that type of speed or you're not physical, you'll get through that first wall…but you get tackled on the 40."
--Two backups that stood out to Kelly before watching the film were defensive linemen Brandon Bair and Beau Allen.
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