NFL News: Philadelphia Eagles Won’t Tank, says Coach Chip Kelly
Philadelphia Eagles coach Chip Kelly said he's not thinking about tanking despite sporting a 3-5 record midway into the season.
Kelly, who was hired last summer to turn around the franchise after two fruitless seasons under the tutelage of Andy Reid, believes there no reason at all to tank this season as he believes doing so would cost his job in the long run.
"We're all about winning games," Kelly said Wednesday. "If we start planning long term, I might not be here long term."
Kelly stressed that they will continue to put his team in position to win games, and that includes Sunday's showdown with the Oakland Raiders.
"It doesn't come in," Kelly told Phil Sheridan of ESPN. "It's about beating Oakland. That's it. It's a one-week season, and that's all there is. Last week, it was beating the Giants. There wasn't, 'Hey, what are we going to be like next year, let's active G.J. (Kinne, the practice squad quarterback) and throw him into the mix.' That's not our mentality."
With Michael Vick regressing and Nick Foles struggling to steer the ship right, there are speculations that it's maybe the right time for the Eagles to draft a prolific quarterback coming from the college ranks.
The Indianapolis Colts and Washington Redskins clearly benefitted from drafting a college standout by picking Andrew Luck and Robert Griffin III respectively in 2012. On the other hand, the Seattle Seahawks and San Francisco 49ers got Russell Wilson (third round) and Colin Kaepernick (second round) of the 2011 Draft.