Kelly regrets handling of McCoy trade
Chip Kelly defended the offseason trade of LeSean McCoy, but he regrets the way the trade was handled. Kelly did not get the chance to speak with McCoy before news leaked of the deal. That caused bitterness from McCoy, who has not taken Kelly's calls and says he will not shake Kelly's hand when the Buffalo Bills visit the Eagles this weekend.
Chip Kelly defended the offseason trade of LeSean McCoy, but he regrets the way the trade was handled. Kelly did not get the chance to speak with McCoy before news leaked of the deal. That caused bitterness from McCoy, who has not taken Kelly's calls and says he will not shake Kelly's hand when the Buffalo Bills visit the Eagles this weekend.
"How he was traded wasn't handled right," Kelly said. "I felt bad that I didn't get a chance to talk to him. . . . I called him. He didn't answer my phone call. I know he was pissed and he should be pissed, rightly so.
"Every player that's ever left this team, I've talked to them personally myself. Everyone that's in town, we talk to them individually here in our office. . . . We have a way that we do it that I think is the right way to do it, and it wasn't exercised in that case and I understand why he's bothered. He was an all-time leading running back here, felt like he was disrespected, and it was wrong. Because I was part of it, it's on me."
Kelly did not think the trade would be completed until the morning after the news broke. He said the way McCoy found out about the deal was "a lesson that we should never do." He said that when the Eagles acquired Sam Bradford in a deal for Nick Foles, both Kelly and St. Louis Rams coach Jeff Fisher called the quarterbacks at the same time. That's how he said trades should be done, and it wasn't in McCoy's case.
"I understand where he's coming from, and if he doesn't want to shake my hand I understand that," Kelly said. "But I will always shake his hand. If he extends his hand to me, I would always shake his hand.
"I have great respect for him as a player. Everything we asked him to do here, he did. He was an outstanding football player for [my first] two years here. The only reason that he wasn't here is the money was too high. He's still a really good football player in this league. I don't know if I can say anything else besides that."
All in
The Eagles had all 53 players on the active roster practice Thursday. Defensive lineman Bennie Logan returned to the field after missing the last two days with a knee injury. Running back Ryan Mathews was a full participant one day after he was limited while returning from a concussion.