Eagles' Jason Peters plans to play

JASON PETERS says he's in. Ditto Lane Johnson. Allen Barbre wasn't around during locker-room media access yesterday, but he practiced fully, and Barbre indicated Wednesday he intended to play Sunday against New Orleans.

So the offensive-line red alert can be canceled, at least as far as having enough healthy bodies go. The group still needs to play a whole lot better.

Speaking before practice, Eagles coach Chip Kelly seemed leery of declaring anybody in - last week was a disaster in many ways, but one of them was that left tackle Peters (quad) and linebacker Mychal Kendricks (hamstring) decided they could play, then very quickly decided they couldn't play, after it was too late to activate replacements. Meanwhile, defensive end Brandon Bair (groin) and corner Byron Maxwell (quad) also left the game very early and did not return.

Bair will miss a few weeks. Maxwell practiced fully yesterday and said he is fine.

Peters said he isn't worried about having to exit prematurely this week, "because I am who I am." Then he ended his session with reporters.

Left guard Barbre has a groin injury, right tackle Johnson ankle and knee issues.

"It hurts a little bit, but nothing I can't handle," said Johnson, who said his first full practice of the week felt good. "We've got to dig ourselves out of this hole. It's going to be hard, but it's the only way out we've got."

Matt Tobin apparently will start at right guard again.

"At least for the first snap, we're all going to be out there," Johnson joked.

After Sunday's loss at Washington, running back DeMarco Murray said he wanted the ball more. Chip Kelly then said he wants players to want the ball, and that the problem Sunday was that the Eagles couldn't put together drives well enough to give Murray or anyone else a chance to shine. He also said that with Murray having missed the previous game and then not practicing much of last week because of a hamstring injury, it was hard to get him into the flow.

Murray spoke with reporters yesterday for the first time since the game.

"I think we all are on the same page, we all know what needs to happen," he said. "There's not a certain number (of touches he needs). Obviously, the more opportunities you have as an offense . . . you feel better. I think that's anyone, not just me."

Murray has 47 yards on 29 carries, 1.6 yards per carry. Ryan Mathews has 132 yards on 33 carries - 4.0 yards per carry. Kelly noted that Mathews played the Jets game, the only time the Eagles have really run effectively; his implication was that Murray would have gained yards then as well.

Kelly said there's no way to get Murray enough carries to get him going, if the run game isn't working.

"If you have 22 carries for zero yards, we'd better call another play," Kelly said.

This week's opponent, New Orleans, is being outrushed by an average of 40.5 yards per game.

Linebacker Kiko Alonso said Dr. James Andrews' arthrosopic "cleaning" of his left knee showed no partial tear of his repaired left ACL, despite the Eagles' MRI after the Dallas game that seemed to indicate otherwise. Alonso said the MRI result was open to interpretation, which was why he went to Andrews for a second opinion.

Alonso, who just has a small bandage from the scoping, said he didn't know how quickly he might play. He has not practiced since leaving the Dallas game. Yesterday he said he "was running, and I just kind of felt something" in the knee in the second quarter.

"It feels pretty good. There's still a little bit of fluid in there," Alonso said.

Drew Brees has been sacked nine times in three games . . . Given a chance to liken this year's struggles to his first season, when the Eagles also started out 1-3 but finished 10-6 and made the playoffs, Chip Kelly didn't grasp it. "I think it was different circumstances, different players, a different time," Kelly said. "A lot of newness to what we were doing . . . you played three games in 11 days to open the season . . . I don't think there's a lot, aside from the record being the same, that is the same" . . . From the stories that sound apocryphal file, New Orleans corner Kennan Lewis told ESPN.com that the Saints put bull's-eyes on their buses for Philly fans to throw eggs at as they enter the Linc. "I'll be kind of excited. I like to sit by the bull's-eye and see who's got the best aim out there," Lewis said. "They kinda missed last time (the Jan. 4, 2014 playoff game). So hopefully they worked on their aim during their training camp as well."

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