Alonso gets 'scope, news is good

Eagles linebacker Kiko Alonso got his injured left knee arthroscoped by Dr. James Andrews to determine the severity of the damage to his ACL graft, a league source said Wednesday The source later confirmed an NFL Network report that Andrews found that Alonso's repair was not loose, and that he can play again after about a month of rehab -- the best possible news for the team.

The source said the MRI exam Alonso got after he suffered a partial tear of the ACL in the Eagles' Week 2 loss to the Cowboys overstated the damage, that the ligament -- repaired a little over a yeaer ago after he first tore it training for the 2014 season -- remains tight. The source said Andrews injected stem cells into the ligament to promote healing. Alonso flew down to Florida earlier this week to have the knee examined by Andrews.

If the scope had shown that the graft was loose and significantly damaged, Alonso would have needed season-ending reconstructive surgery.

Eagles coach Chip Kelly told reporters Wednesday morning that he was not aware of any plans by Alonso to have surgery. He said the linebacker would be in Florida until Friday and then "we'll see where he is then.''

As for running back DeMarco Murray and his injured hamstring, Kelly said he did "a couple of things'' during Tuesday's short practice and "we'll see how he progresses today. He was limited in practice yesterday and we'll see to what extent he can go today.''

Kelly said linebacker Mychal Kendricks, who missed Sunday's game with a hamstring injury, "got through'' Tuesday's practice. "We'll see how much more he can do today, but he looked good yesterday,'' Kelly said. "With an injury like Mychal's, it's a progression thing. How does he progress during the week. We're encouraged where he is now.''

Left tackle Jason Peters and wide receiver Riley Cooper didn't practice Tuesday and were expected to be limited Wednesday. Kelly said they both had a "nagging thing,'' but expects both to play Sunday against Washington.

--Kelly insisted that he hasn't decided who will start at right guard Sunday in place of injured Andrew Gardner. Matt Tobin replaced Gardner after he got hurt in the Jets game. But Dennis Kelly also has been taking snaps there. Asked why he didn't use free agency or the draft to add depth to his offensive line, Kelly said the price tag on the available players was more than the team was willing to pay. "You can't take players just for the sake of taking players,'' he said. "We didn't have an offensive lineman (still on the board) with a third-round grade (when we selected). If we had taken one, we wouldn't have (linebacker) Jordan Hicks right now. After the fact, you can this and you can say that. But we're not going to reach and take things just for the sake of taking things.''

--On new kicker Caleb Sturgis: "He's got a heck of a leg. The ball explodes off his foot. He was the best at both kickoffs and field goals when we had our tryouts (on Monday).''

--Kelly said it won't be easy running the ball against the Redskins under new defensive coordinator Joe Barry. "They're a little bit more four-down (linemen) than they were under Coach (Jim) Haslett,'' he said. "But I think the big thing with Joe's group is, they're always sound. They're the second-ranked defense in the NFL right now, and they can stop the run with their guys up front. They're gigantic up front. (Nose tackle Terrance) Knighton might be the biggest inside guy in the league. (Jason) Hatcher is a tremendous inside defensive lineman who we have great respect for. They're not allowing explosive plays just because their front can handle the run defense. That's going to be a big challenge for our offensive line going into this game.''