Cody Parker a rookie from Auburn led the NCAA in touchbacks his senior senior season with 69. Photo by Jesse Simmers/contrastphotography.com

Most head coaches will tell you the days after the last preseason game are the toughest of the year.

You have been working with young, talented athletes for months. You and your staff have gotten to know them, their personalities and obviously their passion to be an NFL player.

Now you have to say goodbye to many of them. In many cases, the coach is ending the dream.

“It’s tough to make any decision when you’re cutting anybody,” second-year head coach Chip Kelly said after his team wrapped up the preseason with 37-7 win over the Jets at the Linc. “That’s the one thing, they’re still human beings on that side of the ball. So I don’t look at it that way. I look at it as tomorrow’s not a real good day and Saturday’s not a good day. You have 22 guys that are not going to make the team.”

Kelly may have said goodbye to veteran kicker Alex Henery before the preseason finale on August 28 at the Linc.

Henery did not attempt a field goal in the Birds 37-7 win over the Jets (2-2), instead Kelly gave rookie Cody Parkey chances from 25, 54 and 53 yards, and the former Auburn kicker, who led the NCAA in touchbacks as a senior last year with 69, nailed all three and drew extended applause from the relatively sparse crowd on hand.

Parkey was 2 for 2 in field-goal tries for Indianapolis before the Eagles (2-2) acquired him in a trade last Wednesday.

Parkey’s roster spot and even he career may have been on the line when he trotted out onto the field to attempt the 54-yarder. Parkey’s kick was right down the middle.

“It’s part of our job as a kicker to have a strong mind,” Parkey said after the game. “I take a lot of visual reps and stuff like that. At warmups, me and Al (Alex Henery) were both going back, both my kicks (from long distance) were made so I knew I could make it.”

Parkey’s last chance to be a hero came in the BCS National Championship game.

Parkey was just 1 of 2 in field goal attempts missing a 33-yard field goal in a three-point loss to Florida State.

He has not missed since.

“I didn’t do as well as I wanted to in the National Championship game,” Parkey said. “(Coming into the NFL) I had a chip on my shoulder and I still do. I just go out and try and outwork my competition and try be the best kicker there is in the league.”

When you go 5-for-5 in the your NFL audition, including two from long distance you can say you want to be the best.

Parkey’s performance increased the rookie kicker’s chances of beating out Alex Henery for a roster spot. Henery, a fourth-round draft pick in 2011, was 1 for 3 in the preseason after missing a costly field goal in a 26-24 playoff loss to New Orleans.

The Eagles (2-2) and Jets (2-2) rested most of their starters and several backups. Michael Vick made a one-play cameo in his first game back in Philadelphia. The four-time Pro Bowl quarterback will start the season as Geno Smith’s backup.

Kelly would not make any predictions on Parkey or Henery at his post-game press conference.

“I’m not going to make any cuts,” He said. “I know you’re going to ask that question, but we’re not making any cuts right now. We’ll go back, evaluate the tape, sit down and make decisions on everybody on our team. We have tough decisions.”

Henery made two extra-points and had a pair of touchbacks, but didn’t try any field goals.

“He’s my teammate. It’s not like I was rooting against him,” Henery said. “I’m very confident in my abilities.”