McCaffery: Why Kelce is the Birds’ man in the middle
McCaffery: Kelce still center of attention when it comes to protecting Wentz
PHILADELPHIA » In 78 games as an Eagles starting center, Jason Kelce has come to learn one thing: Nothing works until he gets it started.
That would have been him, then, taking responsibility for an inconsistent 2016 season, adding pounds, shedding critics and showing up for the offseason activities healthy of body and attitude.
“There are certainly things I can improve upon,” Kelce was saying after an OTA workout. “I’ve certainly done a lot this offseason to try to do things in the weight room, to add more weight if needed. And I’ve done a lot of things from a technique standpoint.” That would about cover it for a 29-year-old center at a career turning point. A sixth-round draft choice who won a spot as a starter, peaked in 2014 when he won a $37.5 million contract with $13 million guaranteed, and who dipped by last season to become a handy, public scapegoat for a 7-9 disappointment.
There were reasons for the tumble from wealthy fan favorite to the player many would most liked to have seen gone. Many were televised, in color, in slow motion, through a season in which the Eagles never could seem to get started offensively, not even with their developing franchise quarterback.
It’s how it goes: A missed block here, a slow reaction there, a few losses and the quick leap to blame. Nor will it change on its own. That’s why Kelce returned to the News Control Compound in top shape, a little bigger, a little more hardened by the experience.
“I am really looking at this as things that I can do to try to get better,” he said. “I’m not looking at it from any outside factor, I guess. The only thing I can control is myself. And I do think I bring a lot of things to the table from a mental standpoint because I played so many games. But there are certainly other guys on the team who are capable.”
Kelce remembers playing at 290 pounds last season, says he is up to 295 and plans to hit training camp at the big 3-oh-oh. “I think that would be a good, solid number if I can get it,” he said. “And as you get a little older, it is a little easier to keep the weight on. I think everybody realizes that.”
So that’s the way he’s thinking, realizing he was always considered more of a fun-size center than a midline detour, better in space than at the initial point of collision.
“You put weight on, you see how you feel,” he said. “I was pretty heavy last year at the start of the season. I did a pretty good job of holding all the weight. But it doesn’t matter how much weight you’ve got if you aren’t using the right technique. And I think early on there were a lot of things from a technique standpoint that I could have done a better job with.”
Why that was the case six seasons into his career is a little mysterious. But he has had a history of knee repair, and he was often carried on the day-today report last season with plantar fasciitis that caused pain in his foot. There was also the change in head coaches, and the responsibility of helping to ready Carson Wentz for greatness, along with consistent upheaval on an offensive line tormented by injury.
“If you look at the second half of the season, I think I improved a lot,” he said. “I think a lot of it, quite frankly, comes down to techniques, getting more comfortable with everyone around me, the offense and everything.”
That may have been enough to save his Eagles career, not that his name didn’t swish into every possible rumor of trade or demotion. The club does like 2016 third-round pick Isaac Seumalo, bigger and younger than Kelce and, theoretically, more likely to mesh long-term with Wentz. But the secondyear pro has been working at left guard. Stefen Wisniewski, who has had major-league success at center, signed a fresh three-year contract extension. Throw it all into the mix and, suddenly, Kelce seemed available, even if a stampede of would-be buyers didn’t form in the parking lot.
“Right now, going forward,” Doug Pederson said, “Jason is the guy.”
At his best, he would be the top option for a head coach who needs a good season to avoid similar offseason rumors about his own job status. Which is probably why neither is admitting to paying much attention to the persistent static.
“I think you would drive yourself crazy if you read too much into that,” Kelce said. “The only thing I can control is my game and the way that I play.”
He can play very well. He has played very well. But he’s bumping 30, has some scars and is in an everchanging setting.
“Like I said, I am just going to try to go at it and get ready to play the best that I can,” Kelce said, “and try to get back to some of the things I used to do really, really well.”
Give him the ball. He’s ready to get that started.