PHILADELPHIA -- The Philadelphia Eagles brought back eight of the players they released this weekend to form an eight-man practice squad.
That’s a reflection of coach Chip Kelly’s approach. Kelly values the time spent by coaches and players to develop within his offensive and defensive schemes. To bring in entirely new players would be to disregard all the work that’s been done in scouting, acquiring and coaching the players that spent training camp with the team.
The practice squad includes linebacker Emmanuel Acho, offensive linemen Josh Andrews and Kevin Graf, defensive lineman Wade Keliikipi, wide receivers Will Murphy and Quron Pratt, safety Ed Reynolds and running back Matthew Tucker.
The Eagles have two spots remaining, if they choose to fill them.
Reynolds was the Eagles’ fifth-round pick in this year’s draft. Because he went to Stanford, which operates on the trimester system, he was not able to report to the Eagles until well into the June practice sessions. Reynolds wasn’t able to make up for the lost time, but will get a chance now to practice with the team without the deadline for forming the 53-man roster.
Acho and Tucker were with the Eagles last season. Acho played in six games with the team and Tucker dressed for two games. Tucker clearly earned higher evaluations from the Eagles than running back Henry Josey, who was not brought back to the practice squad.
The Eagles begin practicing Tuesday for next Sunday’s regular-season opener against the Jacksonville Jaguars.
