Eagles coach Chip Kelly says MRI for Mychal Kendricks
Eagles coach Chip Kelly said Tuesday that inside linebacker Mychal Kendricks is getting an MRI on his injured right calf. He also said having Darren Sproles won't overshadow LeSean McCoy, but the idea is to win games, not rushing titles.
Mychal Kendricks' heavy limp as he left the visiting locker room late Monday night at Indianapolis's Lucas Oil Stadium contrasted with what Kendricks told reporters. The Eagles' standout inside linebacker said his calf had just cramped or spasmed, causing him to leave the game in the fourth quarter.
Eagles coach Chip Kelly said Tuesday that Kendricks has a calf muscle injury, and is getting an MRI. Kelly said he didn't know what that meant for Kendricks' availability for practice this week or for Sunday's game against Washington.
Kelly touched on a number of topics.:
*Asked about LeSean McCoy saying he needs to be sharper, after posting two weeks of numbers well below last season's franchise record, league-leading pace, Kelly said he is happy with McCoy and with McCoy's production.
"Weighing his production against last year is meaningless, in my opinion," Kelly said. "Because we're not trying to win rushing titles, we're trying to win football games. I think he's always a very, very harsh critic of himself, which is a very admirable quality. I think that's one thing that pushes him, that's why he trained so hard, not only this summer but this offseason.
"Sometimes things are geared to take him away. If they're geared to take him away, the other guys have to make plays. We have enough weapons all around ... people have kind of honed in on him, and rightly so, but it opens the field up for some of the other guys ... It just depends on how people are going to defend us on a week-to-week basis."
*Kelly said he thought emergency offensive line starters Dennis Kelly and Andrew Gardner played well. He said he doesn't anticipate making any o-line lineup changes for the Washington game. Veteran guard Wade Smith, signed last week, was active against the Colts but only played on field goal attempts.
*Kelly said the Eagles didn't go into the offseason thinking about acquiring Darren Sproles, even after his strong performance in the Saints' playoff win over the Birds. "The story came out (in February) that he may be released. We started doing some research on him," Kelly said. He said that since other teams also were interested, the Eagles sent the Saints a fifth-round draft pick, instead of waiting for Sproles to be cut loose.
*Asked about the Brandon Boykin play on T.Y. Hilton that set up Malcolm Jenkins' crucial interception, Kelly said: "There was contact. It seemed like to me, when you watch the coaches' tape, it was a bang-bang play, but if they threw a flag, you couldn't argue a flag, because there was contact."
*Kelly said Sproles' quick acceleration makes him so effective in the screen game.
*"We don't care where the production comes from," Kelly said, noting that the offense has been productive despite Foles struggling to get in sync with his wideouts.
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