Eagles coach Chip Kelly: Can't have too many quarterbacks

If you were thinking the Eagles might try some fancy roster sleight of hand at the quarterback position -- like putting the third QB on the practice squad -- Chip Kelly indicated otherwise Tuesday.

Obviously, players on the practice squad can be signed by any other team willing to place them on an active roster.

"You better make sure you're 100 percent certain that someone's going to make it through" waivers, Kelly said. "You look at Green Bay last year, all of a sudden they're signing guys off the street, because Aaron (Rodgers) went down. It's a tough deal. You look at St. Louis right now ... In this league, if you don't have a quarterback, you're not going to be successful. I don't think you can ever have too many."

This emphasis also would seem to argue against trading backup Mark Sanchez.

Other points from Kelly's news conference:

*On the second offensive line unit, which has developed nicely in the preseason: "Obviously, it's been bolstered because of Lane (Johnson). But I think Dennis Kelly has played well. David Molk really has played well for us at center. We were really unsure what we had at center when Julian (Vandervelde had to have back surgery)." Kelly also praised Matt Tobin and Andrew Gardner. "It's given us some depth," he said.

Kelly said Vandervelde is "a ways away" from returning to the field. The Eagles have to make a roster move before 4 pm to get to 75, and some sort of decision involving Vendervelde seems quite possible.

*Kelly talked about the difficulty of cutting players, with the Eagles needing to be at 53 by Saturday. He said he makes sure "every player meets with me, every player with his position coach, every player meets with the coordinator on their side of the ball, and we try to be as human as you can be. It's always a difficult time, when someone's goal is --- their goal is to play in this league ... Goal 1 for us is that you make this football team, but then Goal 2 for us is that you have an opportunity to make another football team, with the exposure you get here."

*Kelly noted that the Eagles didn't make a lot of roster changes this summer, that he has been with almost all the players he's cutting since early in the offseason, which makes the decision tougher.

*Kelly said "there's not a set number of snaps" for offensive tackle Lane Johnson in Thursday's preseason finale. Johnson is suspended for the first four games of the regular season, so this will be his last game action until October. Johnson has changed his original plan and now will work out at a facility in Dallas while he is prohibited from working at NovaCare.

*Kelly said the Eagles are keeping tabs on kicker movement throughout the league.

*Kelly said he'll be watching how the reserve running backs play on special teams Thursday night, which is a key to making the roster in that role.