Eagles coach Chip Kelly looks deeply into every aspect of his football operation, and has changed things from nutrition to suggesting new sleep habits to playing music in practices.
So it’s no surprise he wants to know if there’s a reason three of his players have suffered torn ACLs on the same practice field in two weeks.
“We’re looking into everything,” Kelly said, via Geoff Mosher of CSNPhilly.com. “Obviously, when you have the same injury and it happens in a two‑week span or whatever it is, we’re going to look at it and try to figure out, obviously, is it preventable? Is it something that we can make sure doesn’t happen?
“But I don’t have any information. I know we’re looking at it. But a lot happens any time we have injuries. Our doctors and trainers are trying to figure that part out how the overall scope of everything we do. But it’s something that we certainly are looking at right now.”
They were in their 10th practice Tuesday, when wide receiver Arrelious Benn joined wideout Jeremy Maclin and linebacker Jason Phillips on the sidelines with the same injury. All three were non-contact injuries, and all happened on the middle of their three practice fields.
It must not have spooked them too much, because they’ve continued practicing on the cursed field this week with the Patriots in town.
As frustrating as it might be to a man of science such as Kelly, sometimes the answer to such questions is simply bad luck and coincidence.