Chip Kelly doesn't stutter when asked in earnest how the Philadelphia Eagles plan to replace a player like DeSean Jackson, who attracted defensive attention away from other receivers.
The second-year coach is comfortable with his new group of receivers, headlined by Riley Cooper, Jeremy Maclin and rookie Jordan Matthews because he said Jackson wasn't drawing double-coverage last year anyway.
"I think most people played us in single high (safety) coverage and they played man across the board on anybody and no one was getting any help," Kelly said Tuesday, per ESPN.com. "Riley was getting man (coverage) on his side. DeSean was getting man on his side. Jason Avant was getting man in the slot. Zach Ertz, whoever our tight end was, was getting manned. Running back was getting manned.
"No one is going to play us in two (safeties) deep because if you play us in two deep, we can run the heck out of the ball. We had everybody as close to the line of scrimmage as possible and nobody was helping anybody. They were trying to stop the run game."
It's certainly true that teams focused on the Kelly's running attack over its passing arsenal -- defenses always try to take away what the opponent does best.
However, it's faulty to completely dismiss the fact that Jackson created optimal conditions in passing situations and attracted defensive eyeballs in both man and zone coverage. Jettisoning a talent like Jackson certainly comes with some risk.
Kelly is supremely confident that his scheme can work under any conditions and he'll have the whole 2014 season to prove it.
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