Eagles Hold First Open Practice At The Linc
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- The last time the Eagles took the field at the Linc, their season came to an end. The team is hoping their Monday practice is the beginning of a better ending.
The Eagles held their first of two open practices at Lincoln Financial Field, as nearly 15,000 fans showed up to watch the workouts. It was a much more pleasant atmosphere for Chip Kelly and his players than when they walked off the field in January after losing a playoff game.
"It's fun," said Kelly. "The last time we were here was obviously for the Saints game. That wasn't a lot of fun. Hopefully, this outcome today will be a little bit better than that one."
Safety Malcolm Jenkins was on the other end of the sidelines on that January night as a member of the victorious Saints. Now that he is an Eagle, Jenkins enjoyed his first practice in front of the fans wearing a different uniform.
"It's fun," Jenkins said. "Before the practice, I was just admiring the fact that this is what we play for. When I was a kid, these were the kind of things we dreamed about. Playing in a venue like this in front of everybody was a pretty good experience."
The Eagles put on the pads for the first time, although the physical play was limited throughout the workout. However, Cornerback Cary Williams was happy to see a more physical practice than the previous two days.
"You have guys out there going out and competing," said Williams. "We understand that you can look great with shorts on. We understood that we got our legs up under us. When we got the opportunity, we needed to be as aggressive as possible, and we were able to showcase that."
The physicality went to another level at the end of practice. For the second time in as many days, a scuffle broke out between two players as Jeremy Maclin and Bradley Fletcher squared off. Fletcher said after practice that the incident was just part of the emotions of football, and was still happy to have the pads on during practice.
"We feel like we can be more physical when we have the pads on," Fletcher said. "We have guys that can play to some of their strengths, so that's a good thing."
Bennie Logan, Riley Cooper and Chris Polk did not participate in practice. The Eagles will have an off day on Tuesday.
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