Come on Chip. The guy was a jerk to you and you defend him? So much for the hardass theory.
Kelly: Eagles cut DeSean Jackson for 'purely football reasons'
Apr
28
4/28/2014 2:57:12 PM
The Philadelphia Eagles had been silent about the controversial decision to release wide receiver DeSean Jackson until today, Andy Jasner of ESPN.com reports.
Speaking at their 18th annual Playground Build at Prince Hall Elementary School in North Philadelphia on Monday, the Eagles' brass finally opened up about the roster shakeup.
Coach Chip Kelly, general manager Howie Roseman and owner Jeffrey Lurie all spoke to a number of area reporters.
Kelly said releasing Jackson was "purely a football decision" and had nothing to do with a NJ.com report linking Jackson to being friends with gang members in California.
Lurie backed Kelly's decision to release Jackson and said, "It was clear [to Chip] it was not a fit."
"Chip and his people were incredibly clear that for us to get better, we needed to take a step back and re-configure the wide receiver position," Lurie said, according to the team's website.
Lurie said he gives Kelly the "benefit of the doubt."
"He knows what he wants and he knows how to get there. I really believe it's an organization that absolutely supports the direction we're going and that's the best way to be: Everyone in it together and I think Chip is always going to base things not just on statistics, but how you're going to perform, and how you are going to perform in the playoffs."
Kelly added that the Eagles tried to trade Jackson, but decided to release him after they couldn't come up with a trade partner at the recently held owners meetings in Orlando, Fla.
"We were going in a different direction at the wide receiver position," Kelly said, according to the team's website. "We came back from the owners meetings and we had no takers from a trade standpoint, so we thought that it was best at that point and time to release him.
"It has nothing to do with anything that was ever written in a newspaper or any off-field behavior from him."
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Kelly: Eagles cut DeSean Jackson for 'purely football reasons'
Apr
28
4/28/2014 2:57:12 PM
The Philadelphia Eagles had been silent about the controversial decision to release wide receiver DeSean Jackson until today, Andy Jasner of ESPN.com reports.
Speaking at their 18th annual Playground Build at Prince Hall Elementary School in North Philadelphia on Monday, the Eagles' brass finally opened up about the roster shakeup.
Coach Chip Kelly, general manager Howie Roseman and owner Jeffrey Lurie all spoke to a number of area reporters.
Kelly said releasing Jackson was "purely a football decision" and had nothing to do with a NJ.com report linking Jackson to being friends with gang members in California.
Lurie backed Kelly's decision to release Jackson and said, "It was clear [to Chip] it was not a fit."
"Chip and his people were incredibly clear that for us to get better, we needed to take a step back and re-configure the wide receiver position," Lurie said, according to the team's website.
Lurie said he gives Kelly the "benefit of the doubt."
"He knows what he wants and he knows how to get there. I really believe it's an organization that absolutely supports the direction we're going and that's the best way to be: Everyone in it together and I think Chip is always going to base things not just on statistics, but how you're going to perform, and how you are going to perform in the playoffs."
Kelly added that the Eagles tried to trade Jackson, but decided to release him after they couldn't come up with a trade partner at the recently held owners meetings in Orlando, Fla.
"We were going in a different direction at the wide receiver position," Kelly said, according to the team's website. "We came back from the owners meetings and we had no takers from a trade standpoint, so we thought that it was best at that point and time to release him.
"It has nothing to do with anything that was ever written in a newspaper or any off-field behavior from him."
Don't forget to follow us on Twitter at http://twitter.com/theredzoneorg
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