Cary Williams critical of Chip Kelly’s practice routine after 3-0 start
Most people would look at the Philadelphia Eagles, see that they are off to a 3-0 start and tell Chip Kelly to keep doing whatever it is he has been doing this season. Cary Williams isn’t most people, which is why the Eagles corner found a way to complain after his team beat the Washington Redskins on Sunday.
Williams, who may have been salty after DeSean Jackson torched him for an 81-yard touchdown and then taunted the home crowd, told reporters that he wasn’t completely healthy during the week and that Kelly’s rigorous practice schedule caught up to him on Sunday.
“I’m going to be honest with you: It didn’t matter if we had a short week or a long week, it’s been the same,” Williams said, per NJ.com’s Matt Lombardo. “Something needs to change for us to be more productive. It’s tough enough to go out there and play hard for 60 minutes, let alone having to fight through the week. When you don’t have legs, period, it shows up in the game. Period. Throughout the game. Period.”
When asked to be more specific, Williams basically complained that Kelly is making the team practice too much.
“I’m saying [practicing every day] impacted a lot of people,” he added. “A lot of people, but I’m just the only one man enough to get up here and say anything about it, talk to ya’ll as a man and discuss an issue that, obviously, in my opinion, is an issue in our starts [to games].
“But again, I’m just employee 26, and whatever they deem necessary to get us ready for Sunday is whatever it is. If we have to find energy from outside sources to start games quick, then we’ve got to do it. But right now, the way we’re doing it, it’s not conducive to success.”
Again, the Eagles are 3-0. In the National Football League, that is the definition of success. Kelly addressed Williams’ remarks during a chat with Angelo Cataldi on the 94WIP Morning Show on Monday.
“Cary actually didn’t really practice last week,” he said. “So he was limited—he missed Wednesday and Thursday, just did some light things on Wednesday and Thursday and then Friday is obviously a walk through for us. So we monitor all of our players on an individual basis and then kind of what they can do and can’t do. So, we’re practicing the same way we’ve always practiced.”
The Eagles started incredibly slow against the Jaguars in Week 1 and then exploded in the second half. They were down 17-6 against the Colts last week at the half and pulled out a win then, too. And on Sunday, Philly was tied 27-27 with Washington heading into the fourth quarter and made enough plays to get the job done.
If anything, the Eagles have gotten stronger later in games. Williams is obviously upset about a personal issue that he is trying to address by generalizing it to the entire team. It’s not a great look for him when his team is 3-0.
H/T Deadspin