After a big win, especially one that leaves players physically, mentally and emotionally drained, it's normal for athletes to speak a little more candidly to the media than they otherwise would.
That seemed to be the case yesterday at Lincoln Financial Field, where the Philadelphia Eagles eked out a tough win against divisional foe Washington in a violent, hard-fought, back and forth affair. Eagles starting cornerback, Cary Williams, decided to offer up some choice words in his post-game interview.
What made these particular comments so interesting though was their intended target; it wasn't the opposing team or their receivers, it wasn't even the opposition coach staff. In fact, his comments weren't directed at Washington at all. Instead, Williams focused his ire on who he views as the guilty party behind his team's exhaustion and recent spate of slow starts - his own head coach, Chip Kelly.
"I'm burnt out. Burnt out. I'm not the only guy that feels burnt out," Williams said. "I'm just a guy that's man enough to stand up for players and just say that we're burnt out. My legs hurt. My legs were done in the fourth quarter. My legs were done in the third quarter. My legs were done before the game started."
Again, it's normal for any player to feel that way after a game that included 990 yards of total offense, and at one point, saw a brawl break out, but it was the connection he then made, aligning his own personal exhaustion to his team's practice habits, that changed the tone and feel of his comments.
"A lot of guys had no legs. A lot of guys are in a dogfight before the game even started," Williams said. "We've got to start taking care of our guys throughout the week in order for us to be more productive and have more energy on Sunday."
"When you don't have legs, period, it shows up in a game, period, throughout the game, period," he said. "I think it negatively impacted a lot of people, and I'm not the only person. I'm just the one [who is] man enough to stand up here and talk to you all as a man and address the issue. Obviously, in my opinion, it's an issue in our starts [to the game]. Something has to change in order for us to be more productive."
Dating back to his time with the Ravens, Williams has always been a prickly player, never afraid to speak his mind and often in an inflammatory manner. He also is a proud player and just so happened to have been victimized by former teammate, and fellow rambunctious personality, Desean Jackson, for an 81-yard touchdown yesterday.
These factors could shed light on some of his comments, but it seems that Williams, and possibly others within the organization if Williams' assertions are correct, feel that Chip's practice habits could use a little tweaking.
"Obviously, the coaches have their philosophies, and it is what it is, man. I'm Employee 26," Williams said. "I know what gets me ready, and like I said, I'm not the only one. I'm just man enough to let you know . . . that we're not a fresh team. We're not the freshest team out there. And hopefully, preferably, things will change."
"We do a lot of reps, man . . . and it's exhausting. It's taxing on your body, especially when you're 30 years old now, and you expect to be playing at a high level," Williams said. "So, it's difficult. You've got to find that energy. I don't know where we're going to find it. We've been able to muscle through, fight through that as a team, but there's some modifications that need to be done and made."
In a conversation earlier today with the 94WIP Morning Show in Philadelphia, coach Chip Kelly responded to Williams' comments and defended the practice habits that he touts as the building blocks of his team's successes.
"I'll talk to Cary," Kelly told the show's host, Angelo Cataldi. "We'll sit down tomorrow. Today is an off day for our guys, so hopefully they're resting up and then we'll visit tomorrow."
"Cary actually didn't really practice last week. So he was limited - he missed Wednesday and Thursday, just did some light things on Wednesday and Thursday and then Friday is obviously a walk through for us. So we monitor all of our players on an individual basis and then kind of what they can do and can't do. So, we're practicing the same way we've always practiced."
Kelly, who is praised for his focus on sports science - all facets of a player's preparedness from nutrition to training and even sleeping habits - and his commitment to, at all times and at all levels of the organization, operating at a tempo beyond that of the competition, sees the only important issue to be the fourth quarter victories his system has brought to fruition.
"I believe we're the freshest team in the fourth quarter," Kelly said. "I think if you look at what we're doing in the fourth quarter of games I thought our defense came up huge. Malcolm Jenkins two weeks in a row with interceptions in the fourth quarter was big for us. To force them after that short punt to go four straight downs and out at the end of the game and they were close to being in field goal range. I thought the way our whole team played in the fourth quarter obviously shows what type of conditioning we have."
Williams seems to agree, but wouldn't let go of the fact that he feels he is more tired on game day than need be.
"It's awesome that we're 3-0. It's great. It's tremendous. It just shows the resilience, the fight in this team, shows everybody's heart. We've got to find a way to get energy in the first part of the game. Obviously, we started a little flat. We can't continue to have that as the way we start games. If we've got to find energy from outside sources or whatever it may be to start games quick, we've got to do it. But right now the way we're doing it is not conducive to success," Williams said.
Starting quicker would certainly be a boon to a team that, so far this season, has amassed a 54-24 first half scoring deficit combined in its first three games. If the 3-0 Eagles are to find continued success, perhaps Kelly and Williams should come together to find a common ground between the coaching staff's philosophy and the players' well-being.
Williams claims he wants nothing more than health for himself and for his teammates. Well, definitely health for himself, at least.
"I just want to be healthy during the week, and I want to be healthy when I play on Sunday."
In the end, Williams seemed resigned to his fate. If it's a fate that keeps the Eagles on a winning course, no one, not even Williams, will be able to complain.
"I just hope that we can do better by getting guys ready for the game during the week, and then on Sunday, we'll be popping out of our skin running around, flying around the way they want us to be," he said. "Just for these three weeks, we just have not been that. A lot of guys come into the game and been exhausted, and I'm one of them. I've been exhausted for the last three weeks. Nothing has changed. No modification has been done, so that's just that."
This post has been edited.
