Chip Kelly made himself pretty clear duringhis surprise Wednesday news conference.
“Lets dispel the rumors right now, we would never mortgage our future,” Kelly said, going on to explain that the Eagles have way too many needs to move up and give up valuable assets in order to acquire Marcus Mariota, his old quarterback at Oregon. “We are not going to mortgage our future for any individual player,” Kelly continued. “We aren’t going to package 20 picks or whatever to move up from (No.) 20.We have not looked at anything, we have not had any discussions with anyone.” It seems point blank, even moresowith Kelly spending the vast majority of his news conference discussing Sam Bradford, the Rams’ one-time first overall pick and frequently injured quarterback. The Birds shocked the NFL, and Eagles fans Tuesday afternoon when it was announced that along with a bunch of mid-round draft picks, Philly was swapping Nick Foles with St Louis’ Bradford.
Kelly shrugged the suggestion that he was unwise trading for a player who has suffered two ACL injuries and who missed all of 2014.
“The injury rate in the NFL is 100 percent,” Kelly said. “It just matters what the severity of it is. Jeremy Maclin had an unbelievable year for us, he’s coming off of two ACL injuries.” “It’s very rare you have a quarterback in this league that hasn’t been hit, hasn’t been knocked out.”
Kelly cited Peyton Manning, Drew Brees and even Tom Brady as great quarterbacks who have missed significanttime due to injury.So is Bradford, 28-years-old, the quarterback of the future in Philly? Kelly was unsurprisinglynoncommittal. “Everything is a one year season for everybody, that’s what this league is,” the coach said.”We wouldn’t have traded forhim if we didn’t think he had an enormous upside as a quarterback.” Bradford is a former Heisman Trophy-winner and has played under his potential in St. Louis, though he certainly has shown glimpses of elite play. A fact Kelly knows well.
“We looked at every throw Sam’s made in the NFL,” Kelly said, explaining that his play on the field looks better than his numbers suggest. “I think everybody is a byproduct of what’s around you.” Bradford has thrown for59 touchdowns and 38 interceptions in parts of four seasons with the Rams.
Chip Kelly closes door on Marcus Mariota
