The Eagles have a lot of former Oregon Ducks on their roster, with alumni of the Pac-12 power making up 12% of the 76-man roster after their recent cuts, according to Jeff McLane of the Philadelphia Inquirer.. This includes former Panther Kenjon Barner, who the team recently traded for. Head coach Chip Kelly, who coached at Oregon previously, is comfortable bringing players from his former program.
“I like having good football players,” Kelly said. “So we think the guys we have here are good football players. There’s another 20 or 30 other Oregon guys that are in this league that are on other teams. They’re good football players.”
Here are some other notes from around Eagles’ camp:
- Speaking of Barner, the addition of the running back has created a very crowded backfield in Philadelphia, writes Zach Berman of the Philadelphia Inquirer. Chris Polk was thought of as the third back, but hamstring troubles led to the team bringing in Barner. They will both compete with Matthew Tucker and Henry Josey for roster spots.
- Another Oregon product, rookie receiver Josh Huff, suffered an AC joint sprain in his shoulder in the preseason game against the Patriots, according to Eliot Shorr-Parks of NJ.com. Kelly is optimistic about his return, saying that he is not a candidate for the injured reserve list at this point, according to Berman (via Twitter).
- PhillyMag.com rewatched the team’s preseason game against the Steelers, focusing on the defense. Sheil Kapadia wrote the article, and was extremely complimentary of the defensive players. Among the highlights, he noted that Brandon Graham was unblockable, first-round pick Marcus Smith was much improved, and the team was strong overall among the front seven. The corners struggled at times, but the safeties played well with the exception of Chris Maragos, who was beaten for a touchdown.