Eagles Notes: Henery's miss comes after solid camp

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. - Despite the improvements that Alex Henery displayed during training camp, the Eagles kicker hooked a 47-yard field goal wide in the 42-35 preseason loss to the Patriots on Friday night. It was his first field goal attempt of the preseason, and the kick was not even close off his foot.

"You've got to make 47-yarders in this league," coach Chip Kelly said.

Kelly said Henery was "really good" in training camp, and he is 9 for 9 on extended extra points that are similar to 33-yard field goals. But Henery's missed field goal did not evoke confidence, especially since he is coming off the worst season of his career. He hit 82.1 percent of his field goals, which ranked 22 out of 32 NFL kickers in 2013.

"I'm confident in Alex, but again, we've got to convert in games, too," Kelly said. "I've been real excited with him in practice, and I think he's worked on some things with [special- teams coordinator Dave] Fipp in terms of placing the ball on kickoffs better and hitting things as we've gone through training camp, but we also have to do it in the game."

The Eagles brought in Carey Spear to provide competition for Henery, but the undrafted free agent has struggled.

Cary Williams is used to seeing Patriots coach Bill Belichick hurry off the field after shaking the opposing coach's hand. So Williams was surprised when he saw Belichick come up to him after the game Friday. Williams took it as an opportunity to apologize to Belichick face-to-face.

Williams called the Patriots "cheaters" earlier this month, and expressed his dislike for his former AFC rival.

"I told him that I was sorry," Williams said. "I told him I respect him as a man, I respect him as a coach, I respect him as a GM. And I respect the organization. I told him I said something out of emotions, and I didn't mean that. . . .You try to use anything to fire yourself up. I let my emotions get the best of me. I said some things I kind of regret."

Belichick told Williams that he respects the Eagles cornerback, who used to play for the Ravens. Williams said he did not have bad blood, but rather a competitive personality.

"Two guys with respect for one another," Williams said. "I told him how I felt, and he knew it was from the heart."

Williams injured his hamstring on a 77-yard interception return in the first quarter. He did not make the injury sound serious and was hopeful he will play Thursday against the Pittsburgh Steelers.