Did Chip Kelly discipline Cary Williams after he called Patriots ‘cheaters?’
Philadelphia Eagles cornerback Cary Williams does not like the New England Patriots. When New England and Philadelphia got together for a joint practice last year, Williams was sent to the showers early for fighting. On Friday, the sixth-year veteran was asked about his team’s upcoming practice with the Pats later this month.
“They are cheaters,” Williams said, per CSNPhilly.com’s Geoff Mosher. “They are.”
Williams’ point was that joint practices give opponents a chance to study your playbook. He is especially reluctant to practice with the Patriots, who were infamously caught videotaping opponents’ defensive signals in 2007.
“To me it’s not benefiting us because they’ve already proven who they are (from Spygate), that’s their history,” Williams added. “And I don’t like them, not only because of that, but because I just don’t like them. I played them three of four times in a row [in the playoffs].”
One day after making the comments about New England, Williams was absent from Eagles practice. When asked why he missed Saturday’s session, he claimed Chip Kelly gave him the day off because of “soreness.”
“I’ll be back out there as soon as I can,” Williams said. “Chip understands that I work hard, I try to do everything within the system. Today, he just gave me a day off. It’s not a big deal. [I]t had nothing to do with (the Spygate comments). I haven’t even discussed anything with Chip. I don’t think he’s trying any type of … I’m sure maybe we’ll have a conversation, but I don’t know.”
That didn’t sound too convincing. Not only is Kelly friends with Bill Belichick, but he doesn’t need his team creating distractions after dealing with the whole Riley Cooper incident last summer and the DeSean Jackson drama at the start of the offseason. My guess is Williams was given the day off as a warning.
