Chip Kelly walks out of his first game against the rival Giants with a win. Photo by T.J. Engler/contrastphotography.com

Eagles Head Coach Chip Kelly Press Conference
10.7.13

Q. So as the longest tenured coach in Philadelphia, can you kind of reflect back?
COACH KELLY: It’s kind of the crazy reality of what we deal with, but it’s unfortunate. I know Pete [Laviolette] a little bit. He’s a good guy. I think as a coach you understand that it’s a possibility going in, but it’s still tough. I think there is another college coach that got let go this week at Miami of Ohio. It’s hard. It’s the reality of our profession, and it’s unfortunate. You feel for the guys and you feel for their families.

Q. What are the results of Michael Vick’s MRI and will he be able to play Sunday?

COACH KELLY: I don’t know if he’ll play Sunday. Right now he’s day‑to‑day, and he’ll we’ll see how he goes through the rehab process.

Q. Did he take the MRI?

COACH KELLY: Yeah, he took an MRI.

Q. The results?

COACH KELLY: I don’t get the results. They just told me what he is and what he isn’t. They just said he’s day‑to‑day, and I don’t know. I know he probably won’t be going tomorrow, but we’ll see where he is after that.

Q. Can Nick Foles win the starting job by playing?

COACH KELLY: Can he win the starting job by playing? Well, if he’s playing, then he’s starting.

Q. Can Foles win the job by his performance?

COACH KELLY: If he plays well? Yeah, there’s always open competition. So if Nick goes out there and throws 100 for 100 and throws 27 touchdown passes, then, yeah.

Q. Yesterday you said Mike’s going to come back. Is that the case regardless if he’s out?

COACH KELLY: That’s not the case for anybody. If someone comes in and puts on an unbelievable performance, you have to take it all into account. That’s my point.

Q. What is the barometer by which you measure that?

COACH KELLY: I don’t know. And I don’t have those answers. We can go through this a million times. If Nick plays this week and does an outstanding job, that would be great for everybody involved.

Q. Was it more to do with he’s day‑to‑day?

COACH KELLY: Yeah, Mike’s day‑to‑day. He had an MRI and they said he has a pulled hamstring, so we’ll see where he comes back from that.

Q. What were the results of his MRI?

COACH KELLY: I didn’t ask that. They just said it was pulled. We’ll see how he is. If I know the Mike I know, he’ll work extremely hard at the rehab part of it, and we’ll see how he goes as the week goes along.

Q. How long in the week will you go with him being day to day?

COACH KELLY: How many days in a week are there?

Q. There are six days until the game?

COACH KELLY: Six days until the game. I don’t know. It depends. I’m not going to tell you, coach, you said Thursday, and then Sunday they say he’s a hundred percent and I say he’s playing. I don’t know until we see how it goes. I’m not going to predict the future. I don’t know where we are with that.

Q. Does he need to be a hundred percent in order to go?

COACH KELLY: I’m not going to put him out there if it’s going to hurt him. That is the biggest thing. When he was in the game and we went back in, they thought he was good to go back in. I watched him try to get away from the rush, and that wasn’t fair to Mike. I’m not going to put him in that situation, so we’ll see how he is.

Q. Do you prepare two different sets of plays?

COACH KELLY: No, we run the same. We do the same things offensively with Nick that we did with Mike, so we didn’t have to deviate much from anything in terms of what we’re doing, and I think that’s the beauty of those guys. Having an understanding. We’ve had enough time with both of those guys. We’ll all been here since April so we have an understanding. There are some things that Nick does different than Mike does. But it’s not like we have to say, hey, we’re going to be an I‑formation team on Sunday if Nick’s in the game.

Q. After watching the film, what was the primary reason for the slipping in balance of run to pass plays after Nick went in – you called more passes.

COACH KELLY: I don’t think it slipped. I don’t think I called as many run plays. If you look at it statistically, they started doing some line stunts up front. Did a decent job with that. But I think we were trying to take advantage of some of the things they were trying to do with us coverage wise and get some guys uncovered.
So it was more of ‑‑ I think from a play call standpoint there were a lot more passes called in the third quarter than there were previously to that.

Q. What did you see – they didn’t have to respect the read option once Michael went out. Is that what you see looking at the tape?

COACH KELLY: Defending it? No, but we didn’t really run the read option so, I think that’s a big misconception. We didn’t run much before that either. So it just depends on how many plays we’re going to run. We ran some sweeps in there. We’re running outside zone in there. So it’s a little bit different concepts that we were running in the run game anyway.

Q. Nick has been more productive in the red zone than Michael in a limited body of work. Any reason for that disparity?

COACH KELLY: No, I do know this. We held on to the ball better. Our guys caught the ball better in the red zone. But I think they’re too short to just say that second half compared to where we are. So I think as a team we need to do it overall as a team. We need to do a better job in the red zone. We still kicked five field goals on Sunday. We need to get those to be sevens instead of threes. So the entire team needs to do a better job in the red zone.

Q. Coach, you said you didn’t run down much read option on Sunday. Said the game plan doesn’t change as far as the quarterback. Do you feel like the read option is just as reliable with Foles in there?

COACH KELLY: Depends on how teams are defending us.

Q. Do things seem to be in sync with the receivers, some anticipation throws and timing throws? Or is it the fact that you’re just coming in kind of cold?

COACH KELLY: I think the work that Nick gets in in practice and how he prepares. We’ve talked to Nick since we made a decision at quarterback. We said before you’re a chinstrap away from having to come in the game. Some guys that’s cliché talk and other guys take it seriously. So Nick has prepared himself like he’s going to be the starter every week. When his opportunity came, I think he took advantage of it.

Q. Did anything stand out to you on film offensively?

COACH KELLY: I think what stood out for me was basically where we were as an offense. I think we’re still inconsistent. I think Nick was inconsistent at times where we could have delivered the ball. We should have had more plays. I think every game so far we’ve still left. Even though we’ve been productive, we’ve still left a lot of yardage on the field. But I think like Nick and Mike, both those guys understand what we really mean about not turning the ball over. That’s two straight games without turnovers from either quarterback that’s played in those games.
I think, again, the things that we didn’t have in the last couple games, we’ve got to clean up the penalties again. We had three false starts which is hard for us to understand how we’re getting those, but we’ve got to continue to work on those, and we have to pick up the drops.

Q. Where do you think your guys are in the process of getting the play in and getting it running? Obviously it’s still a work in progress, but do you see it improving?

COACH KELLY: Yeah, I see us improving. I think our guys have a better understanding. I am pleased where we are so far. I still think we have a long way to go offensively.

Q. How much do you think it helps Nick that he had all those reps on the first team in the off‑season? He’s played with those guys, played behind his linemen and all that?

COACH KELLY: I think it helps. That’s part of what we do. We do get a lot of reps and OTAs and mini camp and preseason camp. I think there are reasons to that and benefits to that. If we had quote unquote named a starter last mini camp everybody would have been happy because we had a starting quarterback, we would have been sitting here now saying the second guy didn’t get enough reps. I think as a group we understand how we approach this thing. There is a reason we try to get as many reps as we do in the off‑season and preseason camp, so that for all guys, they get an opportunity to go in there and play. At tight end we’re rotating guys and at running back we’re rotating guys. So a lot of guys have had opportunities in preseason camp and back in OTAs to get reps. So I think that’s benefited him.

Q. How many snaps has Nick been getting in practice roughly percentage‑wise?

COACH KELLY: Percentage‑ wise, I’d probably say 20, 15, 20, I don’t know. Could be off on that. But he does get reps with the ones. They get a lot of reps with simulating the other offense. I think they’ve got a lot of work. They did a lot of really good work with the Denver Broncos week, because Peyton was a ton in the gun throwing the ball out. So I think Nick got a lot of work that week too. If there are a lot of times when plays are similar plays from a pattern recognition standpoint, we try to put it into our terminology standpoint.

Q. Do you anticipate Matt Barkley getting more reps in practice this week if Michael can’t go?

COACH KELLY: Yeah, if Michael wasn’t going to go, then the number two and number three quarterbacks have to get more reps.

Q. Jeff Maehl saw a lot of action yesterday. What have you seen out of him?

COACH KELLY: No, that’s just a credit to Jeff. I think we got him late. He wasn’t here in the off‑season. Wasn’t here for most of preseason camp because of the trade. When we got him, it was just a matter of Jeff getting a really good feel for what we’re doing offensively. He’s been showing us things in practice every day of the week, and we need to get him on the field a little bit more.

Q. What’s the status on Patrick Chung?

COACH KELLY: Pat’s another guy this week. Him and Mike are two guys we’ve got to keep an eye on. I think he’s improved. It’s just a matter of how we can function. I think the strength is back from what Chris [Peduzzi] told us. So it’s a matter of how he functions and carries himself around the field. But he’s another guy, him and Mike are the two guys from an injury standpoint that we need to keep an eye on.

Q. How are they going to defend you differently with Nick as far as the running game? Have you countered with different things we haven’t seen yet?

COACH KELLY: No, we’re done (jokingly). Yeah. It does depend on how people are going to defend you. But the Giants running game, the Giants defense in the second half didn’t change from what they gave us in the first half.

Q. But they had a spy on Vick at some point. And when he was out of the game, they dropped the spy?

COACH KELLY: Not the film I saw. They were playing man three. Where was that linebacker?

Q. He was rushing a lot?

COACH KELLY: Yeah, that’s what they do. It’s the same M-O the Chiefs had. Same M-O we’ve had the last couple of weeks. It’s been the same exact thing. Look at the pass that Mike threw to Jason Avant after the touchdown [against the Chiefs]. One guy took the back when they realized Mike was in the pocket. That’s been the flavor of the week for the last three weeks against us.

Q. What has Nate Allen showed you the last couple of games?

COACH KELLY: Yeah, I think Nate’s improved. You know, again, him getting a grasp of what we’re doing. Getting a better understanding of everything that our defensive package entails. But I think he is starting to see things. Things are starting to slow down a little bit for Nate. He’s starting to get an idea of kind of what the route recognition is, what’s coming at him and things like that. He’s a guy that I’ve seen over the last couple weeks make strides from an improvement standpoint.

Q. Is Brandon Boykin a guy you’d like to see a little more of starting on the outside?

COACH KELLY: No, I think he’s doing a really good job in nickel. We’re in nickel enough that I look at Brandon as a starter, so I think it’s really difficult. If we say, hey, we’re going to flip Brandon out and go make him play outside, then who is going to play nickel? I think we were down with Pat [Chung] out being at the safety position. We were down there a little bit. So I think he’s fit in really nicely there. When we’re in nickel a predominant amount of time, we think of our nickel defense as a starting defense depending on how people are going to deploy themselves.

Q. I think Brandon played 45 of 73 snaps, but there is still a number there of possibly not having the other guys on defense out there. You know, sometimes you get the best guys out there on defense.

COACH KELLY: For what positions they’re supposed to play. But when you’re getting into a 21 game, it depends on what you’re going to get. You only get two receivers in the game, we’re certainly not going to bring Brandon in as a safety spot. We’re happy with [Bradley Fletcher] Fletch and Cary [Williams] outside.

Q. Is Damaris Johnson going to be the punt returner in every situation or will DeSean Jackson get some chances back there?

COACH KELLY: It just depends on the situation and where we are with it. But we can use DeSean back there. We have. It just really depends on where it is and depends on where DeSean is and how many reps he’s getting, how does he feel. We’ll use him again this season. It just depends on really kind of how the situation is, and who the kicker is too – if you get an opportunity to return [a punt]. I know we were [going to get] a little more spray kicks and lower kicks and balls bouncing around on the ground from the Giants, so that was part of our factor into making those decisions too. But if you’ve got a guy that’s going to boom it and give us a shot to return some things, we’ll try to get him in the game.

Q. What was the thought behind calling a running play on third-and-nine in the first quarter?

COACH KELLY: We thought it was a good play call at the time based on the defense they were deployed in.

Q. You thought you’d get the first down on that one?

COACH KELLY: Yeah.

Q. Would you have gone for it on fourth down?

COACH KELLY: Yeah, we got the ball over to 50 and we were talking about going for it on fourth down. But usually on third-and-nine when you call a play, you’re hoping to go get a first down. We weren’t going to take a knee. (Joking)

Q. The percentages of running on third down —

COACH KELLY: Not if people are playing man‑to‑man coverage and totally turning your back on what’s going on and you have no run support. That is part of the thought process when you do that. If you’re going to just totally abandon and you catch people when they’re just totally trying to play the pass, a lot of people pop runs in those situations.

Q. Any reports out there that say the decision has been made on next week’s quarterback are inaccurate?

COACH KELLY: Yeah, we have not made any decision on who our starting quarterback is next week.

Q. Matt Barkley could conceivably see time. How do you feel he’s coming along? Do you think he’s ready?

COACH KELLY: Yeah, I think Matt’s done a nice job. It’s hard when you have three quarterbacks and getting reps and things like that. Matt does a really good job on the scout squad. I know [quarterbacks coach] Billy [Lazor] takes those guys individually every day during one of our team periods, whether it’s Nick or Matt, and takes them to a throwing progression. We’ve worked Matt out every day before every Sunday before games. I’ve seen Matt improve, and I think the one thing about Matt is he loves football. So he’s around here all the time. He studies all the time. Obviously he’s not going to have as many reps as you would feel really comfortable in with a guy getting thrown into that situation. [He’s] not going to have the reps that Nick had but I feel comfortable in what Matt can do as a quarterback.

Q. When Nick Foles played in the preseason he didn’t throw the ball down field that much. Against the Giants he seemed to throw a bunch of balls down field. Why do you think that was?

COACH KELLY: Play call.

Q. Was it what they were doing, the play call?

COACH KELLY: Play call, and what the defense is giving you. I think part of where you throw the ball is about being a good decision maker. I think a lot of times in Nick’s situation in preseason, we call some things down the field but they’re in coverage so Nick would check it down which is what he’s supposed to do.

Q. When teams blitz your offense, do you see that as an opportunity for you to be aggressive on offense?

COACH KELLY: Specifically or in general? Sure.

Q. Did you have a chance to ‑‑

COACH KELLY: You can follow up if you want. I don’t know. People aren’t blitzing us much though.

Q. No, I was kind of looking at it from the opposite point of view. When your defense blitzes, some quarterbacks would like for the guys to go and take advantage of an opportunity.

COACH KELLY: Yeah, but that’s football. When you bring one more, then they can protect, you also expose yourself on the back end. So now you’re playing man with no help. So now you have to cover them, you can’t funnel them to your help, and that becomes that great chess match in the game. Do you show blitz but then bail and play zone and try to get them to elicit a hot throw and get the ball thrown quick and then we rally and make the tackle and you kind of go back and forth between that game. The guys that are best at it, and the Peyton Mannings of the world, it’s very difficult to fool him. When he’s five games in and no one has fooled them yet, you may get them on one play. I still look at the best play he made when he played us was when they were over toward their bench. We tried to get him on something and it wasn’t there, they took the ball and threw it in the back of [Wes] Welker’s calf, like he wasn’t going to make the play. He just thought, ‘Alright, get me second down now.’ It’s not there, ball is on the ground, give me another snap. Two plays later, they’re in the end zone for a touchdown. It just depends on who you are. When you’re playing a younger quarterback, you can fool them a little bit more. That’s kind of what that process is about. You’re playing that catch 22 where if do you blitz them, are you getting home in time? Getting some pressure. I thought what happened in the fourth quarter is we got pressure on Eli [Manning], and we had guys in his face and all of a sudden we got the ball coming out to get three fourth quarter interceptions. It was a byproduct of not only the coverage, but it was a byproduct of the pressure too?

Q. Why didn’t you, when you looked at it and saw it, why didn’t you get pressure in the first place?

COACH KELLY: We were getting pressure. That’s what I really think. Sometime it doesn’t go in the stats, but you get three intentional groundings. To me, to be honest with you, an intentional grounding is like a sack because only do you gain the yardage, but it’s also a loss of down. It doesn’t go in the stat book as a sack, but an intentional grounding for lack of a better thing is I’m throwing the ball away because I’m going to get sacked. The rule is in there for that. You’ve got three intentional groundings from them and you’ve got three interceptions from them. So I felt like our defense did a good job of getting pressure on them.

Q. Did you get a look this morning at the apparent safety and any thoughts on why it wasn’t a safety?

COACH KELLY: Yeah, I got a look on the ride home on the bus when we were watching film. They said it wasn’t a safety, so it wasn’t a safety.

Q. Did you think it was a safety?

COACH KELLY: When they say it’s not a safety, it’s not a safety. I go by how they play.

Q. Did they give you any clarification on it?

COACH KELLY: Yeah, they said it’s not a safety.

Q. You didn’t think that Michael Vick took a lot of hits. Did you see the play where it appeared that Justin Tuck kneed him to the ground after he threw the ball. Did you see that one, and any idea what happened there?

COACH KELLY: I don’t recall that one. I can’t give that you answer.

Q. As a follow‑up to the Jeff Maehl question, how is his blocking on the edge?

COACH KELLY: I think Jeff does a good job on the perimeter in the block game. That is one thing about Jeff. That’s why he plays on our kickoff coverage team. He’s got some toughness and is a physical guy. That’s one of the things that I think you like about him. We talked about that all along. If you’re going to have a guy that’s not your starting receiver, he has to be able to contribute on teams. He just can’t be a really good receiver, because then you’re carrying a roster spot where that guy should be able to play on teams for you. I’m excited to see where Jeff continues in his development, wherever it may be. We’re cross‑training Jeff because he’s really technically our fourth receiver. He’s playing in the slot. He’s playing the outside right. He’s playing the outside left. I don’t know exactly where it gets him, but if he keeps practicing well, we need to find ways to get him on the field even more, whether it’s in the slot, outside, inside, whatever.

Q. Following up on that question, when you call a play with on third down with that down and distance, do you think you’re always going to get a first down?

COACH KELLY: I hope we’re going to get a first down.

Q. With Cedric Thornton playing the nose now, you did that against Denver. Were you going to see how he did as a starting nose and you liked it so you did it again?