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Chip Kelly opened his Wednesday morning press conference with a response to a question about the status of inside linebacker Kiko Alonso. The Eagles coach noted Alonso won't return to Philadelphia until Friday because he's currently still visiting Dr. James Andrew in Florida to get a second opinion on his knee injury.
A little bit later in the press conference, Kelly dropped an interesting hint in a response to a question about Philadelphia's offense line depth. The transcript, with my emphasis in bold:
"We’ll see. We like to have nine [offensive linemen]. That’s the ideal number for us, but because we had two linebackers down that aren’t injured reserve candidate type guys in Mychal [Kendricks] and Kiko [Alonso], so you’ve gotta kind of figure out where do I get that extra spot right now? And for us right at this current time it was in the offensive line."
ESPN NFL insider Adam Caplan offered his perspective:
Interesting situation, indeed.
One would think the Eagles don't really need Alonso to play through such an injury, especially with the emergence of rookie Jordan Hicks. The team also has Kendricks, who might be able to return this week, and veteran DeMeco Ryans at inside linebacker.
Just because Kelly hasn't put Alonso on injured reserve yet doesn't mean he won't eventually end up there. It'll be interesting to see how this situation plays out.
UPDATE: Some more information here from Les Bowen.
Dr. Andrews will 'scope Alonso's knee, Daily News has learned, to feel ACL graft from last year. If MRI overestimated damage, he can play.
— Les Bowen (@LesBowen) September 30, 2015
Alonso's remaining ligament has to be tight, If it is lax, Andrews will do reconstruction. Otherwise, with rehab, he can play again. .
— Les Bowen (@LesBowen) September 30, 2015
RE last two tweets: Looks like they're still trying to pin down exactly how badly Alonsio injured his knee against Dallas. Inexact science.
— Les Bowen (@LesBowen) September 30, 2015