Why Kelce believes Eagles can win big in rebuilding year

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The way Jason Kelce looks at it, rebuilding doesn’t mean losing. 

It just means you’re trying to win a different way.

And Kelce looks squarely at his hometown of Cleveland, where the Browns – coming off 12 straight losing seasons – went 11-5 last year with a wild-card win in Pittsburgh under rookie  coach Kevin Stefanski.

“There’s no question we’re in a transition period,” Kelce said Tuesday. “We have a new head coach, a new coaching staff completely, a new quarterback, there’s a lot of change that’s happening within the building. So without question we’re in a transition period. 

“I think the biggest difference between football and a lot of other sports is that being in a transition period doesn’t mean that you can’t compete and be competitive. … A lot of the new coaches, who had no time to prepare throughout the offseason, given the situation with COVID and everything, performed really well. The Browns are a great example. 

“The bottom line is we can be competitive and win games. We can win this division, I have no doubt about that.”

Kelce has lived it.

He was here for Andy Reid’s miserable last season, when the Eagles went 4-12, lost 11 of their last 12 games, had the 3rd-worst record in the NFL and a year later went 10-6 and won the NFC East under Chip Kelly. 

Every year there are teams like the 2020 Eagles that look hopeless but do the right things and have success a year later.

“If we go out there and go about it the right way and improve and we continue to get better as a team, we can (win) and also be in a transition period,” he said.

“I think that’s the best way to transition because we’ll be able to do it in a way that we’re still winning ballgames while building this thing for the future.”

Kelce is 33 now and going into his 11th season, and if you think he considered retiring because the Eagles’ outlook wasn’t good, you just don’t know Jason Kelce.

He believes one of the reasons he’s here is specifically to help turn things around.

“I’m excited to come back and help in this transition as a veteran player,” he said. “I think that that’s a big part of my role, aiding in this transition. I’m excited to be a part of it.”

Kelce said the newness of everything – coaches, players, schemes – has everybody on their toes.

And that’s a good thing.

“Whenever there’s new things happening and different cultures being set, different people that you’ve never met before, anytime there’s different environments like this, I think that the energy is probably a little bit higher,” he said.

“I still feel like we had really good energy with Doug (Pederson) and I don’t want to say that had gone by the wayside, because I don’t believe that. But anytime there’s something new, you’ve got to be dialed in. You’re getting new terminology every single day, you’re getting a new way we’re lifting weights, a new way we’re doing this, a new way we’re doing that. You’re learning that on a daily basis, so you have to be locked in. 

“It’s not like I’m in my fifth camp with Doug and we’ve installed these plays the last five years and I know exactly what’s going on. Now everything might be just a hair different, but that difference is a big deal come game time. I think the attention to detail is certainly higher and really locked in at this point with everything being so new.”

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