Chip Kelly

Kelly is doing things his way, and so far that includes high-tempo practices, no more junk food and offensive players experimenting at new positions, according to the Philadelphia Inquirer. Kelly has already tried tight end Clay Harbor at outside linebacker and wideout Jason Avant at defensive back.

I’ve always wondered why more teams don’t do this. Typically the move is made when players are exiting college — J.R. Sweezy made the move from defensive tackle to guard last season for the Seahawks — but Bill Belichick has moved several players around as veterans including putting wide receivers Troy Brown and Julian Edelman at cornerback, Matthew Slater at safety and defensive end Alex Silvestro at tight end.

If a football player makes the NFL, they’re obviously among the best athletes in the sport. So if there’s a lack of depth at a position, it would make sense to try a player at a different position rather than grabbing one off the scrap heap.

The move from wide receiver to cornerback paid off in spades for Seattle’s Richard Sherman, though that move was made in college. But what’s to say the 30-year-old Avant can’t find a new life at a different position?

Photo via Facebook/Jason Avant

If you’re behind on the news, in recent days the IRS has come under intense scrutiny for illegally targeting specific groups. According to reports, the IRS systematically singled out conservative groups — specifically ones with Tea Party-sounding names — for extra-intense review for tax-exempt status. The entire affair has reignited distrust in the government, and put the Obama administration under fire.

Perhaps its possible that Mathis just doesn’t like the IRS, anyway (who does?), but it’s likewise impossible to not view his shenanigans through the lens of the ongoing scandal. On Wednesday, Mathis posted a photo to Instagram of himself apparently urinating on a sign for an IRS building.

Well, Evan, message received. Way to take the subtle and dignified road, there. The caption with his photo? “Audit this.” Clever. If you’re wondering about the walking boot, Mathis missed Eagles minicamp recovering from ankle surgery.

Check out the image below.

Photo via Instagram/evanmathis69

LeSean McCoy is facing a lawsuit from a woman going by the name “Mary Roe,” who is accusing the Eagles running back of assault and battery, intentional infliction of emotional distress, false imprisonment and negligence, according to ESPN.com.

Roe claims that she was invited aboard a party bus that went from Philadelphia to a New York City nightclub on December 18, 2012. Once on board, McCoy and his bodyguard, “Big John,” proceeded to spray the party bus guests with water. When Roe complained, McCoy reportedly ordered Big John to “get her.”

“Big John and/or McCoy then struck plaintiff in the face, causing her to fall to the ground, physically restrained her while she was lying on the ground, poured a beverage onto her hair, clothes, and body, and forcibly dragged and pushed her,” the complaint states. “McCoy ordered the driver to stop on the side of the highway, and after the driver did so, both Big John and McCoy then forcibly ejected plaintiff from the bus.”

When other partygoers on the bus complained about the harsh treatment, McCoy let Roe back on the bus but subsequently left her at a rest stop where she called police. Roe reported the incident to the New Jersey State Police who are involved in the ongoing investigation.

McCoy’s lawyer, Andrew M. Smith, told TMZ.com that the allegations against McCoy are false.

“This is sadly an attempt to extract money and LeSean will vigorously defend any attempt to collect money through a personal injury claim,” Smith said.

Roe is reportedly seeking $50,000 for the damages.

Photo via Facebook/LeSean McCoy

Photo of the Night

This one’s for all the Tom Brady lovers. He started from the bottom.

Photo via Twitter/@FOXSports

Tweet of the Night

Apparently J.R. Smith was having a rough night against the Pacers.

Recap: yes, yes, yes, yes, no, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, no, yes, yes, no, yes, yes, no, no, yes, no, yes, no.

—
Did JR Smith Miss? (@DidJRSmithMiss) May 15, 2013

Video of the Night

Let them wear shorts.

But McCoy, who at 24 is six years younger than his quarterback, is alleging that there may have been a bit of foul play on Vick’s part.

“With Mike, what happened with Mike was, it was a race,” McCoy explained to reporters at the Eagles’ practice facility on Monday. “I always call him old. I tell him that nobody over 30 can beat me in any race. We had the race, but he jumped off. He started early. I had to come catch Michael Vick. I had to catch him. And he beat me. But he won’t race me again.”

The verdict of this race is apparently a big deal around Philadelphia, as Vick has fielded questions about it, too. He counters that his speed is the result of a new training and nutrition regimen he began to prepare for new head coach Chip Kelly‘s fast-paced offense. That didn’t stop McCoy from spouting out excuses, though.

“In a 40-yard race, the smallest jump matters,” McCoy said. “First of all, he started down in a sprinter’s stance. I was standing up. That was probably my first mistake. I should have never did that. But he won’t race me again. I told him that. We can line up anywhere, he won’t do it. He’s smart.”

The true outcome of the race may remain a mystery (the running back claims to have photographic evidence, but he declined to share it), but at least McCoy can remember one of his quarterbacks’ first names. Sorry, Matt (or is it Mark?) Barkley. You’re not there yet.

Video screenshot via CSNPhilly.com

LeSean McCoy was calling rookie quarterback Matt Barkley “Mark” at practice on Monday. And it wasn’t some lame hazing attempt, the All-Pro running back really thought that was the rookie quarterback’s name.

If McCoy is calling one of the most famous college football players of 2012 the wrong name, draft picks like Zach Ertz, Earl Wolff and Bennie Logan stand no chance of being referred to correctly by the Eagles Pro Bowler. They might as well get used to the names Zeke, Earnest and Bernard now.

LeSean McCoy has been calling Matt Barkley "Mark" all day. Said he actually thought the name was Mark. Guess he doesn't watch much Pac-12

—
Zach Berman (@ZBerm) May 13, 2013

Players who grew accustomed to “taco Tuesdays” and “fast-food Fridays” will be disappointed this year. Chip Kelly has nixed all junk food this year, including pizza, chicken wings, fried food and red meat, according to Jeannine Edwards of ESPN. In their place, players will eat lean protein and drink fruit smoothies.

It’s not surprising to hear that tacos and fast food were nixed as Andy Reid was fired. It also shouldn’t seem like rocket science that eating well could improve a team in a sport that relies on speed and strength.

Reporters have also been marveling at their first glimpse of Eagles practice under Kelly. The atmosphere can best be summed up as fast-paced but orderly. Tweets indicated that all five quarterbacks were throwing at once, there was music blaring and there were a hundred things happening at once.

Check out the Eagles’ new nutrition options in the photos below.

One of 4 signs in #Eagles' revamped cafeteria, explaining main food groups and what they do. #NoFastFood http://t.co/Jp4UT9W2nM

—
jeannine edwards (@jeanninee12) May 13, 2013

One of the Chip Kelly changes: Tables with fruit and juices lined up post-practice for players to grab. http://t.co/uWdtG4N5QA

—
Jeff McLane (@Jeff_McLane) April 17, 2013

Craziest thing I've seen so far right here ... personalized smoothies. http://t.co/J0SXzNC9Qp

—
Geoff Mosher (@GeoffMosherCSN) April 17, 2013

Andy Reid sold off some of his old Philly memorabilia as he starts anew with the Kansas City Chiefs. Reid and his wife sold their old Eagles gear to raise money for the Harriton High School football team and Laurel House, a shelter and anti-domestic violence agency, according to philly.com.

Check out the photos below to see some of the goods Reid had up for sale.

Andy's cowboy (boooooooo!) boots. #AndyReidyardsale http://t.co/9yjpp69IVE

—
Chris Johnson (@chrisjohnsonjr) May 11, 2013

Andy's ice cream. #AndyReidyardsale http://t.co/otJIzTKFio

—
Chris Johnson (@chrisjohnsonjr) May 11, 2013

Socks, ruler, 5XL shorts and duct tape. #AndyReidyardsale http://t.co/E1f7YzsANr

—
Chris Johnson (@chrisjohnsonjr) May 11, 2013

Andy's shower shoes. #AndyReidyardsale http://t.co/O1KS2RORgd

—
Chris Johnson (@chrisjohnsonjr) May 11, 2013

Andy's board games. #AndyReidyardsale http://t.co/ofQg0io1Ae

—
Chris Johnson (@chrisjohnsonjr) May 11, 2013

Andy's bedside lamp. #AndyReidyardsale http://t.co/0ulavWFqvE

—
Chris Johnson (@chrisjohnsonjr) May 11, 2013

Scott visited with the Philadelphia Eagles and even took a physical on Friday, according to Adam Caplan of TheSidelineView.com.

During his lone season with the Patriots, Scott primarily played in 14 games and notched 14 tackles, three sacks and one forced fumble. He was used primarily as a situational pass rusher along the defensive line, but didn’t have nearly the impact as his predecessor ,Mark Anderson, did. Anderson signed a big-money deal with the Buffalo Bills ahead of the 2012 season.

Scott did have 12 combined sacks in his first two NFL seasons — both with the Oakland Raiders — so the Eagles may be hoping the 28-year-old will return to that form next season.

Have a question for Luke Hughes? Send it to him via Twitter at @LukeFHughes or send it here.

Vick is a little over a month away from his 33rd birthday, but on Thursday he proved that there is still got a good deal of youth left in his legs.

After plenty of badgering from teammate LeSean McCoy, Vick raced the Pro Bowl running back after the Eagles’ practice on Thursday. And he won. But Vick didn’t just beat McCoy in the 40-yard sprint, he smoked him by five yards, according to Pro Football Talk.

The 24-year-old McCoy, who ran a 4.5 40-yard dash at the 2009 NFL combine, had apparently been ragging on Vick for weeks, even calling him an “old man” at times. The veteran quarterback had been brushing aside all the noise for a few weeks until he finally decided to show up his much younger teammate.

Eagles punter Anderson Colt recapped the excitement with one very quick and direct tweet about the race.

Vick just beat Shady in a 40 yard race. @MikeVick—
Colt Anderson (@AndersonColt) May 02, 2013

Vick had a little more fun with the situation on Twitter, doing a little gloating about his win and even using #SpeedKills to emphasize his victory.

So today at the field 1 of my teammates called me old & bagged to race me in the 40yd dash. Anybody want to guess which player? #BirdGang—
Mike Vick (@MikeVick) May 02, 2013

Beat him by a few yards too lol #SpeedKILLS—
Mike Vick (@MikeVick) May 02, 2013

The most impressive piece of this entire situation is less about beating McCoy and may be the fact that at 32, Vick can still run sub-4.5 40. So much for slowing down with age.

Have a question for Luke Hughes? Send it to him via Twitter at @LukeFHughes or send it here.

Kelly and his staff are honoring the victims of the Boston Marathon tragedy and the first responders by wearing Boston Police Department polos.

Pretty cool gesture ... New England native Chip Kelly ordered up @Boston_Police polos and is wearing one tonight for 1st night of the draft.

—
Albert Breer (@AlbertBreer) April 25, 2013

The polos are dark blue — like Boston police uniforms — and have an emblem on the left chest.

Kelly has a lot on his plate with his first NFL draft ahead of him this weekend, but it’s great to see that even in such a stressful time, he still remembers his roots.

Check out Kelly sporting the polo at a pre-draft event in the photo below.

Photo via Twitter/@Mindycaaat 

The latest escapade may be his most damning if it is indeed true. According to Philly.com, the Flyers netminder fell asleep during a team meeting. According to the report, Bryzgalov appeared to fall asleep in a meeting on Monday. That meeting came after a practice in which Flyers head coach Peter Laviolette told Bryzgalov and Steve Mason that Mason would be getting the start for the Flyers on Tuesday against the Islanders.

An original report from the team’s flagship radio station stated that Byrzgalov was benched Tuesday because he fell asleep. That’s been disputed by Laviolette, and if the chain of events in the Philly.com story are correct, the snooze came after Bryzgalov was told he was sitting Tuesday.

“Whether he was actually sleeping or not, no one knows for sure,” an anonymous player told Philly.com. “It seemed like he may have been doing it to get a rise out of other players. I’m not really sure why he did it, or if he was faking it. Either way, it seemed to catch and lot of people by surprise and angered a few people.”

It’s the latest in what’s become a growing line of distractions for the Flyers, who are in the midst of a very disappointing season. They dropped a 4-1 decision to the Islanders on Tuesday night, and they now find themselves in 12th place in the Eastern Conference, five points out of the final playoff spot.

Many have speculated or suggested that the Flyers should buy out Bryzgalov’s contract at some point. Bryzgalov is currently in the early stages of a nine-year, $51 million contract that isn’t set to expire until after the 2019-20 season. That deal comes with a $5.67 million cap hit per season.

The Patriots will face four NFC opponents over the four-week preseason slate, which includes games against the Philadelphia Eagles, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Detroit Lions and their annual showdown with NFC East foe New York Giants. They will travel to Philadelphia and Detroit, but the Bucs and Giants will come to Foxboro for a visit.

The Patriots do have a history of running joint practices with one of their preseason opponents, as they did with the Saints last year. Bill Belichick has a longstanding friendship with Tampa Bay Bucs coach Greg Schiano, which might make them a candidate for some joint sessions. Then again, the Patriots and Bucs are scheduled to play during the regular season, which might make Belichick less inclined to join forces.

The game against the Bucs is the only one with a set date for the time being, primarily because it’s slated to be nationally televised on FOX.

Check out the Patriots entire preseason schedule below.

Week 1 – at Philadelphia Eagles

Week 2 – Tampa Bay Buccaneers (8 p.m. on FOX)

Week 3 – at Detroit Lions

Week 4 – New York Giants

The Patriots do know their regular season opponents for the 2013 season, which include the Bengals, Broncos, Browns, Bucs, Falcons, Panthers, Ravens, Saints and Texans along with their normal AFC East rotation. The regular season schedule won’t be released until April 16.

Have a question for Luke Hughes? Send it to him via Twitter at @LukeFHughes or send it here.

Well, the details haven’t been figured out just yet, but this could be a real event in the coming years — baring any crazy public safety incident happening next year in East Rutherford.

Eagles owner Jeffrey Lurie was excited to tell the media on Monday that he would be pushing for a Philadelphia Super Bowl, depending on what transpires when Super Bowl XLVIII takes over New Jersey next season.

“Yes, I will, if it’s a success,” Lurie told Philly.com. “New York will help us.

“As long as there’s no public safety issue that day, I think it would be great if it’s snowing a bit,” Lurie added.

Whether this day will come or not remains to be seen, but you can be assured that fans in the New York area are happy to hear there might be another Super Bowl coming nearby.

According to TMZ, the Philadelphia Eagles cheerleading director is interested in Paris Jackson joining the team. At 14, though, she’ll have to wait until at least 2017, when she turns 18 years old.

“We think Paris will make a great Eagle cheerleader!” Eagles cheerleader director Barbara Zaun told TMZ.

Paris is currently on her prep school’s varsity cheer squad.

“We thought that she had a lot of poise, confidence, and enthusiasm in her cheer performance,” Zaun explained. “Paris has that ‘wow factor’ that makes a great cheerleader.

“She is already very comfortable in the limelight, so we think she would definitely stand out and impress the judges,” she added. “We hope that she will try out for the team and be an Eagles cheerleader!”

Thumbnail via Twitter/Paris Jackson

Patrick Chung

Chung, who fell out of favor and played sparingly for the Patriots down the stretch of the season, has signed with the Philadelphia Eagles, according to the team.

During Chung’s final two seasons at the University of Oregon, Chip Kelly was the offensive coordinator, which is the connector in this reunion.

Chung had a lot of promise at safety for the Patriots after a breakout year in 2010 and solid start to the 2011 season, but injuries derailed him during the last two years and saw him fall out of favor with Bill Belichick and the defensive staff.

He recorded 96 tackles and three interceptions in 2010, and if that talent can be harnessed once again, then Philly could be making a great decision. He is still just 25 and four years into the league, so don’t count out a resurgence, but last year’s second-round pick Tavon Wilson is a very similar player.

It’s tough to part ways with such a great locker room guy, but for the time being the Patriots are better off moving in a different direction with Devin McCourty and company.

Have a question for Luke Hughes? Send it to him via Twitter at @LukeFHughes or send it here.

The bookstore chain Barnes & Noble had scheduled a series of books signings where Vick would make appearances in Atlanta, New Jersey and Pennsylvania, but announced Monday that it was canceling them because of threats of violence made toward the Eagles quarterback.

“While we stand by Michael Vick’s right to free speech and the retailers’ right to free commerce, we cannot knowingly put anyone in harm’s way, and therefore we must announce the cancellation of Mr. Vick’s book-signing appearances,” Byron Williamson, president of Worthy Publishing, told Phillymag.com. “We’ve been assured these threats of violence, which have been reported to the police, are being taken very seriously by local authorities.”

After serving his 19-month sentence, the former Virginia Tech standout has certainly turned his life around. Vick has been a driving force in the community off the field — which should be enough for fans to see he made a mistake, and paid for it. Some fans, apparently, won’t ever let him forget.

The former Rams receiver is drawing interest from the Philadelphia Eagles, according to CSNPhilly.com. Amendola would join DeSean Jackson and Jeremy Maclin in Philadelphia’s undersized receiver corps.

Amendola reportedly won’t be re-signed by St. Louis in free agency. The Texas Tech product has spent four seasons with the Rams after going undrafted in 2009. He has 196 receptions for 1,726 yards and seven touchdowns. He has only played 12 games in the last two seasons, with his only full season in the NFL in 2010.

Amendola can contribute inside in the slot or at outside receiver. He’s also returned kicks and punts during his NFL career.

Darrelle Revis

Rumors abound that the New York Jets are frantically shopping their star cornerback. One team that’s rumored to be interested is the Philadelphia Eagles, according to the Philadelphia Inquirer. Jeff McLane reports Eagles general manager Howie Roseman is putting an offer together to bring Revis to Philadelphia.

The Eagles are a good fit. They have salary-cap space and a hole at cornerback. Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie is a free agent and Nnamdi Asomugha will likely be released after March 12.

McLane suggests the Eagles could give up their second-round pick in 2013 and a future selection. The Eagles would then have to extend Revis once the trade is complete. Revis is coming off a torn ACL that cost him most of the 2012 season.

Back in October, Michael Vick announced that he was, once again, a dog owner. No stipulations on dog ownership had ever been put upon him by courts as a condition of his parole from prison and, for his part, Vick said that he wants his “children [to] establish a loving bond and treat all of God’s creatures with kindness and respect.”

While the announcement drew the expected negative reaction from animal rights groups, it hasn’t seemed to have fazed Vick, who this week was spotted publicly with his Belgian Malinois puppy — taking training classes at a New Jersey PetSmart.

Check out a picture of Vick with his new pet below.

Photo via Twitter/@byroncrawford

The “Dream Team” moniker didn’t last with the Eagles, and neither will Asomugha. Howard Eskin of Fox 29 TV tweeted on Wednesday morning that the 31-year-old cornerback would be released the same day. Eskin has since retracted the report, saying Asomugha will be cut, but not on Wednesday.

Asomugha signed a five-year, $60 million contract in July 2011. Asomugha has $4 million of his contract guaranteed for 2013, according to Rotoworld.

Asomugha was a top cornerback during his eight years in Oakland. He struggled with a change in scheme in Philadelphia. If Asomugha is released, he will immediately become a free agent, and teams would not have to wait until the league start date of March 12 to sign him.

Photo via Facebook/Nnamdi Asomugha