In an interview aired Sunday on ESPN, LeSean McCoy denied he called Eagles head coach Chip Kelly a racist for trading him and some other black players.

McCoy in better times ...

Sort of.

To backtrack McCoy implied race was a factor after he was shipped to the Buffalo Bills for linebacker Kiko Alonso.

McCoy told ESPN The Magazine there was a reason Kelly "got rid of all the black players - the good ones - like that."

McCoy tried to back away from those strong comments Sunday in an interview with Hannah Storm.


“Well that’s how I felt," McCoy said. "And everybody was so quick to say I called him a racist. I never called him a racist. And I have no issue with Chip. I have no hatred towards him."

Kelly said he reached out to McCoy on multiple occasions to discuss the matter but was rebuffed.

McCoy wasn't real clear when asked again by Storm if race was a factor in the trade.
 

"Uh, I wouldn’t say that," McCoy said. "I think that I wasn’t the player (Kelly) wanted. So no matter if I was black or whatever it is, at the end of the day I’m going to have my own thoughts about it and other people can have their own thoughts. After that comment got all the angry thoughts out I was happy."

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The Eagles are selling pavers costing up to $350 (disregard the inscription) including logo and up to 72 characters inscription, to construct the “Eagles FanWalk” outside Lincoln Financial Field.

There are three paver options, starting at $175, on sale to the general public May 14. The walk won’t be done until 2016.

Go to www.philadelphiaeagles.com/fanwalk.

The Eagles obviously have the right of first refusal on inscriptions, Shady McCoy.

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Eagles running back LeSean McCoy is a FedEx Ground player of the week nominee after rushing for 117 yards Sunday.

McCoy in happier times at training camp.

Nominee is the operative word because Bengals running back Jeremy Hill (154 rushing yards) or Saints counterpart Mark Ingram (100) is likelier to win the award. Both scored two touchdowns last week. McCoy has one TD on the season.

You can vote for McCoy at  NFL.com/FedEx through Thursday at 3 p.m. The local chapter of the American Red Cross gets a $2,000 donation in the name of the winner. (Yeah, I could see the delivery peeps hiking that to say, $5K, too).

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LeSean McCoy returned to practice Monday after sitting out the previous session with a mild case of turf toe.

McCoy said X-rays and MRIs of the left big toe were negative and his playing time would depend on his pain threshold.

“I feel like if I hurt it too much I’ll shut it down,” McCoy said. “But I warmed today and it felt good. I could feel it still but I could push through it. In this league you have to learn how to play with pain.”

The toe became an issue during practice last week with the Patriots. McCoy made a cameo in the preseason game against the Patriots Friday night.

“It was really bothering me,” McCoy said. “During the game it kind of was real, real sore … and a couple days before that. I was trying to play through that. Yesterday it really was hurting pretty bad. It’s fine. I felt a little bit better today so I went for it.  And I actually pushed through practice. I don’t know what I did as far as my reps and my workload today. But I was kind of getting into it. I started warming up. And I need to work anyway so I just pushed through practice.”

Among key players, wide receivers Jeremy Maclin (knee, hamstring) and Riley Cooper (foot) participated in the open phase of practice but were limited in team reps.

Running back Chris Polk (hamstring) did not practice. He hasn’t worked since the beginning of camp.

Polk’s absence has opened the door for undrafted rookie Henry Josey, who had eight rushes for 56 yards and caught a 27-yard scoring pass from Matt Barkley in the 42-35 preseason loss to the New England Patriots.

“Henry got more than his share of reps,” offensive coordinator Pat Shurmur said. “And he made the most of it.”

Wide receiver Damaris Johnson also benefitted from Polk’s absence as he also played running back in the second preseason game.

“Damaris, heck he played three different positions for us,” Shurmur said. “That’s a huge thing for a guy.”

Johnson caught three passes, including a five-yard touchdown from Mark Sanchez and had seven rushes for 14 yards. Johnson also averaged 6.3 yards on three punt returns and returned a kickoff 27 yards.

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They said it couldn't be done.

But after O.J. Simpson broke the 2,000-yard rushing barrier in barely 14 games in 1973, seven others have done it, most recently Adrian Peterson in 2012.
 
Eagles running back LeSean McCoy clearly wants to be No. 8 judging by the tweet he sent on his certified Twitter account.

@CutonDime25: This is THE YEAR!!!! My potential is #2000yards. Will Will it? Stepping up my training and signs point to yes.

Eagles teammate Darren Sproles has McCoy's back. He says McCoy has the strength and the elusive running style to meet the challenge.

Here's the NFL's 2,000 rushing yard club:

1973 O.J. Simpson (Bills) 2,003

1984 Eric Dickerson (LA Rams) 2,105

1997 Barry Sanders (Lions) 2,053

1998 Terrell Davis (Broncos) 2,008

2003 Jamal Lewis (Ravens) 2,066

2009 Chris Johnson (Titans) 2,006

2012 Adrian Peterson (Vikings) 2,097

2014 LeSean McCoy (Eagles) 2,???

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NFLN analyst Michael Irvin at work.

... Sights and sounds from Eagles training camp, including Michael Irvin, Michael Bamiro, Lito Sheppard, Keelan Johnson and the running backs showing off in a drill ...

Keelan Johnson back to work after arrest.

Michael Bamiro.

Lito Sheppard.

Sports Illustrated applauds the skills and endurance of Eagles running back LeSean McCoy in a regional edition this week.

Eagles training camp from the sideline Wednesday.

While many NFL running backs have fallen off after a year of heavy use,  McCoy intends to avoid it through the offseason training program implemented by Chip Kelly.

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LeSean McCoy asks the question as he works his way through the line signing autographs along with Eagles teammate Nick Coles at the conclusion of the first day of training camp.

The practice was closed to the general public but pacts of season ticket holders were admitted.

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The LeSean McCoy presser was winding down, the Pro Bowl running back obviously weary of answering the same tired questions he'd addressed weeks ago.

So I asked Shady what it was like being part of an offseason almost totally lacking in drama. Alas, a smile.


"We like the quarterback controversies, we like all that type of stuff, man," McCoy said. "So it’s a little different going into this camp."

In all seriousness, the Eagles have slammed the door on the drama that regularly consumed at least a portion of the offseason. Yes, the month of March was hairy as fellow scribe Zach Berman pointed out, but since then it's been a clean sheet on the drama front. And McCoy thinks that's a good thing.

"It gives us more time to focus," McCoy said. "The last couple of years we had so much attention on this team for all the wrong reasons. Now we’re just preparing. We came off a good season last year which ended too early. We want to capitalize on that, win the division again and, hopefully take over where we left off."

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LeSean McCoy had fun doing a spot on the NFL Fan Pass What's Up Pro show.

McCoy supplied a pretty good imitation of Eagles running backs coach Duce Staley in this video.

Staley and McCoy and the rest of the Eagles running backs had gathered after McCoy rushed for a franchise record 217 yards to defeat the Lions in the snow game. When the room was clearing Staley spoke to McCoy.

"McCoy, you’ve got to get it done," McCoy said doing the Staley impression. "You’re leaving yards out there. I’m like, what game you watching Coach?

"But he’s a good coach. I like Duce. He always finds ways to get it out of me."

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Dion Lewis didn't want to talk about the fire alarm he and his brother set off, resulting in their arrests. Charges later were dropped against Lewis, who Monday wanted his statement to stand and to move on.

And that's what he's doing.

Eagles offensive coordinator Marty Mornhinweg, in his strongest comments to date, stated after practice Monday that Lewis had all but locked up the backup running back job behind LeSean McCoy.

Big Marty also blamed himself for not using Lewis more in 2011, when McCoy rushed for 17 touchdowns and caught three scoring passes to earn a berth in the Pro Bowl.

"Always wanted to go into a game using him just a little bit more," Mornhinweg said of Lewis. "Then you get into a game and every game is important, and LeSean was so good last year, it was hard to take LeSean out. And it will still be hard to take LeSean out. But certainly we would like to play the other fellows just a little bit more.

"And Dion has earned that role up to date. He's got a little hard work left."

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McCoy, Samuel before 2011 Patriots game at Linc.

Cornerback Asante Samuel reacted on Twitter Friday to a zing from Eagles head coach Andy Reid.

Reid apparently told Philly.com that Samuel was in deep decline and didn't fit the Eagles' system. Samuel was traded to the Falcons for a seventh-round draft pick.

Asante Samuel ‏@pick_six22 I just finished reading the story on coach Andy Reid! All I can say is WoW! #fueltothefire #riseup

 

Asante Samuel ‏@pick_six22

Men lie women lie numbers don't

Samuel intercepted 23 passes in four seasons with the Eagles, leading the team in the category every season but  2011, where he had just three picks.

Reid is 38-25-1 with Samuel on the roster but just 18-14 over the last two years.

Eagles running back LeSean McCoy backed his former teammate in a tweet:

Lesean McCoy ‏@CutonDime25

@pick_six22 u still the truth bro

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