Kelly praises Peyton Manning as Eagles prepare for Broncos

Chip Kelly watched the Denver Broncos' 37-21 win on Monday night. He watched the Broncos again on Tuesday morning. It wasn't hard to deduce that No. 18 is pretty good.

Kelly had high praise for Manning, saying he and Tom Brady are the two best quarterbacks he's ever seen against the blitz.

"We were fortunate we got a chance to practice against Tom here, see him a little bit in the preseason," Kelly said. "Now we get a chance to see Peyton up close and personal. You're talking about two of the all‑time greats. It will be a great challenge for us."

Kelly also praised Manning's offensive weapons. The Broncos have four receivers -- Wes Welker, Demaryius Thomas, Eric Decker, and Julius Thomas -- with at least 190 receiving yards. Kelly also complimented their running backs.

"It's a tough challenge for us this week," he said again.

Playing Manning also factors into decisions that are made on offense during the game. Kelly cited Bill Belichick going for a fourth down in the Patriots' own territory to try to keep Manning off the field.

"I think sometimes you definitely have to take your opponent into consideration when you make those decisions," Kelly said.

Kelly said when playing "one of the all-time greats," a defense cannot focus on one particular thing to try to stop him, because it leaves them exposed in other areas. Kelly called it a "cat-and-mouse" game.

Some other notes...

- The Eagles returned to practice after four days off. Safety Patrick Chung didn't practice. Every one else practiced.

- Kelly said as of now, no changes will be made to the starting defense.