On the first day of Senior Bowl practice, on Monday, Chip Kelly said all there is to say during a 17-minute interview with a gaggle of reporters. On Tuesday, and for the foreseeable future, there just isn't a whole lot for Kelly to talk about.
The coaching staff isn't yet finalized, and it won't be announced until the staff is complete.
Kelly isn't ready to talk about the roster and won't until he has spent the time studying the current personnel.
There are no answers to what schemes Kelly will run since he doesn't have a complete feel for the personnel on the roster.
Draft questions don't make a lot of sense at this point since it all relates back to the roster and the personnel and ...
That's where we are, folks. A bit of a holding pattern. In our go-go-go world of super-fast information, it's sometimes frustrating to segue into where we are now. The adrenaline rush from Kelly's hiring last week now takes a new turn.
Ultimately, the question is this: How is Kelly going to turn this team around and make the Eagles a Super Bowl winner?
I wish I had the answer right now. I wish *Kelly *had the answer right now.
But that isn't the case, and we just have to exercise some patience. The answers to the coaching staff and the roster and the free-agency approach and the draft choices will come in time. It's just that now is not the time.
Kelly and general manager Howie Roseman remain at the Senior Bowl practices for another day or two and then they return to Philadelphia and dig in some more. When will the coaching staff be complete? Kelly said on Monday that he "has no timetable." How about quarterback? The Eagles reportedly need to make a decision on whether to pay Michael Vick a significant bonus in the days after the Super Bowl, so the deadline is established.
Anything else imminent? Free agency is in March and the draft is in April, and as much as we want to know now what Kelly has planned, we just have to wait and wonder and discuss and see how much of what we think actually comes true.
NEWS, NOTES AND A LITTLE BIT OF THIS AND THAT
- Not a ton to report from the couple of Senior Bowl practices I saw. There wasn't a quarterback who jumped out at me. The cornerbacks weren't great. Michigan's Denard Robinson, a quarterback in college, moved to wide receiver and returner and didn't knock me out.
- Many, many former Eagles coaches spent the days in Mobile with their new teams, or in some cases, looking for new jobs. There is no NFL Job Fair more productive than the one conducted in the end zone and in the stands of Senior Bowl practices.
- Will the Eagles use a draft pick on a running back? I mean, if there is one position you would think the Eagles are well stocked, it's running back, right? But then the big question is how Kelly feels LeSean McCoy, Bryce Brown, Dion Lewis and Chris Polk fit into his offensive scheme. And that, of course, is something we don't know.
- The question of DeSean Jackson has been a major one, as in how can the Eagles better utilize his skills and make him more multi-dimensional? Does he return punts again? Do the Eagles want to get him the ball on handoffs and direct snaps a time or two or three each game? The Eagles need more explosiveness in the offense, and that means giving Jackson more touches.
- There is strong sense out there that the Eagles will go to a 3-4 scheme defensively, which would raise interesting questions. Brandon Graham and Trent Cole would see to be fine as stand-up pass-rushing linebackers. Mychal Kendricks and DeMeco Ryans could play the inside linebacking spots. Who plays up front, though? Could the Eagles get this defense turned around by virtue of a change in scheme and some pieces in a single offseason?
