Eagles' McCoy is confident, but frustrated

LeSEAN McCOY is not bothered by the questions and speculation that have swirled around the defending NFL rushing champ this week, McCoy insisted, with fans, reporters and talk radio hosts scrutinizing his 39 yards on 29 carries over the last two games.

McCoy proclaimed his lack of concern a second time, while stating he was through answering questions about the Eagles' running game, and then yet again, at length, during the walk back to the locker room with reporters, following McCoy's weekly news conference yesterday.

For someone who wasn't bothered, he seemed kinda bothered.

After reporters were admonished to stop asking a running back questions about the running game, they looked at one another with some consternation. Where could we go?

"Shady, do you think an independent Kurdish state in Iraq is something the United States should support if the Kurds shoulder the load in defeating ISIS?"

Or maybe, "Shady, if Bill Davis were running the Secret Service, do you think he could scheme up a system to keep intruders away from the First Family?"

Thankfully, the news conference was winding down by the time we had to stop asking about the running game.

"It's definitely frustrating. You know what type of player you are and you wanna put the numbers up," McCoy said, earlier in his session. The first four games of this season (192 yards, 70 carries) represent the least productive four-game stretch of his career, on a per-carry basis. "If teams do come in and try to stop you, and are successful, that's rather frustrating . . . but then again, I know who I am; I'm still confident. I know what I can do. It doesn't really bother me that much. We're winning games. We're 3-1. At times it can be frustrating, but at the end of the day I know who I am."

McCoy also said: "I'm just not getting it done. I don't know what else to tell you. It's something different every game."

Of course, everyone understands that the central issue here is the Eagles' offensive line, which gets back from suspension this week right tackle Lane Johnson but will be without left guard Evan Mathis (MCL sprain) and center Jason Kelce (abdominal tear) a while longer. Kelce said yesterday he has targeted the Nov. 10 Carolina game, which also is the first game Mathis is eligible to play under the terms of Mathis' designated-for-return injured-reserve status.

Eagles coach Chip Kelly said earlier this week that McCoy is healthy, and McCoy confirmed that yesterday. He had fueled that question by saying after the loss to the 49ers that it didn't matter if he was healthy or not, he had to get the job done.

Kelly also talked about everyone trying to do too much, with the o-line struggling. McCoy's constant attempts to bounce runs outside would seem to be part of that. McCoy said as much yesterday.

Given an offseason to think it over, teams have come up with better ways to defend Kelly's run-based attack, and McCoy specifically. Much like with Nick Foles and the 27 touchdowns/two interceptions, we probably aren't going to see McCoy break his own franchise single-season rushing record of 1,607 yards, and we probably never were.

"It's a whole new year, so we shouldn't even try comparing it to last year," right guard Todd Herremans said yesterday. "Last year was a very special year for him and for us, but we need to stop trying to compare it to last year. It's a whole new year, new group of guys, new defenses. We just need to try to get back on track and play the way we know we can play."

When asked what it has been like to be him this week, listening to what must seem like outlandish speculation about his running style, or whether he has lost a step (after turning all of 26 in July), McCoy bristled.

"I just told you, I'm confident in my game. I know who I am. The teams that we play, they know what type of player I am, so that doesn't bother me. I can't answer the reason why we can't get the running game going, and I'm not going to fight that battle," McCoy said. "It is what it is, and hopefully, it changes. I still prepare the same way.

"That doesn't bother me at all. I act the same, the same as I would last year. It's no different for me."

Asked a question about whether he sees one consistent problem on film, or different ones each game, McCoy said: "Listen, man. Listen, listen. I'm not going to keep answering the same questions. You asked me about the run game . . . I'm not going to keep talking about it."

Obviously, teammates understand McCoy's struggles. Herremans said McCoy and the offensive line talk a lot, though he declined to delve into specifics.

"We have the best running back in the league," wideout Jeremy Maclin said. "To not get him going is very frustrating."

The good news, other than the return of Johnson, is that after playing teams that were ranked third (Washington) and seventh (San Francisco) against the run coming into their meetings with the Eagles, this week the opponent is the 30th-ranked Rams, coming off their bye week.

In a conference call yesterday, Rams coach Jeff Fisher said his team's sack numbers were down because "people aren't throwing it against us, particularly because we're struggling in the run defense."

On a later conference call, Rams Pro Bowl defensive end Robert Quinn acknowledged, "We haven't been playing the run up to our standards . . . we know we've got to stop the run. That's the main focus" coming into this week's game.

McCoy hinted that the Eagles are changing up more than their right tackle, in the wake of last Sunday's 22 rushing yards on a dozen carries.

"We've got some different things this week lined up - the alignments are different, showing the defense a different look, and out of different formations, so it should go well," he said.