Howard Smith-USATodaySports
It has been well documented that Bill Belichick is very intrigued with Chip Kelly‘s offensive schemes. It’s also well known how Belichick visited Kelly’s practices at Oregon, basically adopting Chip’s no-huddle offense and turning it into his own. So it shouldn’t be a surprise that the two want to practice together.
As it was reported a couple months back, the Philadelphia Eagles and New England Patriots are going to hold joint practices on Tuesday and Wednesday of next week at the NovaCare Complex. Then they will square off in the first preseason game Friday night at the Linc.
Kelly and Belichick spent about an hour on the phone this past Monday morning going over the details, according to reports. The practice will be closed to public, but a few selected season ticket holders will be able to attend.
My guess is that the hitting will finally start. Some are not happy that Chip has yet to have the Eagles hitting thus far. To be honest, I really don’t know how it will affect them. I know the Eagles were basically hitting on day one of training camp under Andy Reid. The one positive, which is obvious, is that the players will be fresher for the start of the season. The negative would be that the players won’t be ready for the impact of the hits. We will see.
This is the first time that the Eagles have held joint practices with another team since working out with the Buffalo Bills in 1998. The Patriots have done this routinely over the past few years. They held practices with the New Orleans Saints and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers last season.
Joseph Hickman is a Philadelphia Eagles writer for www.RantSports.com. Follow him on Twitter @phillytugger, “Like” him on Facebook or add him to your network on Google+
