Eagles News: LeSean McCoy takes another shot at Chip Kelly

Philadelphia Eagles news and links for 9/14/15.

By Brandon Lee Gowton@BrandonGowton Sep 14, 2015, 6:00am EDT

Let's get to the links...

LeSean McCoy gets the 'Chip Kelly rejects' together for postgame photo - ESPN
LeSean McCoy has built up a rep for being a shifty, ankle-breaking running back. But when it comes to sticking it to former coach Chip Kelly, Shady has morphed into a straight-ahead, barrel-over-the-safety runner. The latest case of Shady throwing shade came Sunday following the Buffalo Bills' 27-14 win over the Indianapolis Colts.

10 over/unders for Eagles' season opener vs. Falcons - PhillyVoice
The Eagles defense finished with 49 sacks last season, tied for second-most in the NFL. That's just over three sacks a game in 2014, and as scary is it is to say, their front seven is likely going to be even better this season. The Falcons allowed 31 sacks last season, which put them in the middle of the pack, but allowed 14 in their four preseason games this year. New coach Dan Quinn will likely offer a more balanced attack -- they ran the ball just 372 times last season compared to 632 passing attempts -- but their ground game isn't very intimidating.

Lurie willing to gamble to take Eagles from 'good to great' - Inquirer
OK, so it wasn't quite "the gold standard," or Joe Banner's "best roster in football," or even Vince Young's "dream team." For Lurie's purposes, he did well not to raise already-lofty expectations for a team that hasn't won a playoff game under Kelly and a franchise that hasn't won in the postseason in six years. But, somehow, the Eagles have become one of the trendy Super Bowl picks for prognosticators. Some of the pundits, like Banner, who is now a talking head for ESPN, have links to Philadelphia. But some don't and seem to be basing their predictions on a small sample of preseason snaps with Sam Bradford at quarterback.

10 Burning Questions About the 2015 Philadelphia Eagles Season - Birds 24/7
Bradford was the first overall pick of the 2010 NFL Draft for a reason. He has pinpoint accuracy and fits Chip Kelly's system very well. He gets rid of the ball quickly and has plenty of weapons surrounding him. One of the biggest reasons Bradford could have a big year, however, has nothing to do with him. Because the Eagles have the best group of running backs in the NFL, teams will be forced to focus on the ground game. That will open up throwing lanes for Bradford and allow him to take advantage of play-action passes. Once the Eagles get down into the red zone, Bradford can throw the ball to any of his running backs out of the backfield, receiver Jordan Matthews or any one of his three tight ends. Expect him to be one of the top-10 quarterbacks in the NFL this season.

Eagles hope Josh Huff mystery starts to clear tonight - Morning Call
After all the progress he's made, Philadelphia Eagles wide receiver Josh Huff remains a man of mystery heading into tonight's season-opening clash against the Atlanta Falcons. Mystery because he disappeared again in the preseason games after playing so well throughout training camp. Mystery because, with few exceptions, all the public has to go on with him is a body of work that the public hasn't seen. The coaches have, however, and it's why Huff came back in the offseason camps and training camp running with the first team. What does this portend for him tonight? This season? Nobody can say with any certainty.

Jordan Hicks plans to be big part of Eagles' special teams - CSN Philly
When Jordan Hicks first arrived in Philly to start his NFL career, one of the first people he sought out for advice was teammate Emmanuel Acho, his one-time college teammate at Texas. Acho made the Eagles’ roster the last two years based primarily on his special teams ability, and he made it clear to Hicks how important those units are on Chip Kelly’s Eagles.

D-Line Building Solid Foundation - PE.com
Last season, the Eagles’ defensive line made a name for itself. Fletcher Cox, Bennie Logan and Cedric Thornton only want to expand that name and become the best D-line in the league. All three are all locked in as starters once again this year, and the trio has been working all offseason to pick up where it left off at the end of 2014. "We want to be as dominant as we can be week in and week out, play with a lot of effort, a lot of energy and just bring everybody with us. That’s just the main thing," Cox said. "Honestly, I think it’s a good thing the three of us are together again, but it’s also challenging. Can we repeat what we did last year, going out and competing every week and putting it on film and showing that we can be the most physical people on the field that day?"

Washington is making RG3 play safety now - SB Nation
Eight years ago, former Texas head coach Mack Brown didn't recruit Robert Griffin III as a quarterback, but rather as an "athlete" who could play in different spots on the football field. Oddly enough, it appears as if Washington may agree with him –– at least on a temporary basis. The RG3 saga has taken another twist, as Jeff Darlington of NFL.com reports Washington was playing Griffin at safety with the scout team defense at practice this week.

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