Jeffrey Lurie owns the Eagles. But they’re Chip Kelly’s team.
As if there were any doubts that Kelly is in total control of his football team, Lurie said today that his only thought on the decision to cut DeSean Jackson is that if Kelly believed it was the right decision, then it was the right decision.
“With Chip, I just give him the benefit of the doubt. He knows what he wants and he knows how to get there. It’s an organization that absolutely supports the direction we’re going, and that’s the best way to be, everyone in it together,” Lurie said.
Lurie is grateful that Kelly was able to take over a team last year that was coming off a 4-12 season, and immediately shape them up to the point where they won the NFC East.
“Just thinking about last year, this time last year,” Lurie said. "[We] weren’t sure of who the quarterback was going to be. Weren’t sure how the wide receivers were going to be. A lot of positions were up in the air. After watching what Chip and his group were able to strategize, put together and implement, it wasn’t like everyone thought it would be in terms of predictable certain things from Oregon. It was what’s going to be best in the NFL? I think this is just sort of the tip of the iceberg of what this team can perform and do.”
And if Kelly thinks the Eagles will perform better without Jackson than with him, that’s a decision Lurie is more than happy to let Kelly make.