Eagles-Ice-Bath.jpg

The Eagles players immediately jumped into an outdoor ice bath for a few minutes after practice.

(By Jordan Raanan, NJ.com)

Andy Reid used to start every press conference with an injury rundown. It was as much a staple as the thick red mustache.

Chip Kelly rather not go there. The details of the injuries are of no interest to the new Eagles coach. When asked about where safety Patrick Chung stood as he tries to return from a shoulder injury that kept him out of Sunday's loss in Denver, Kelly made it clear where he stands in the process.

"Again, and I'm not being evasive. They just tell me is he going, is he not going?" Kelly said. "I know [Chung] has a shoulder [injury]. I don't get specific. I don't know third degrees, second degrees, it's not my job to know that stuff. I just have to know, is the guy going or not going?

The big picture is what interests Kelly. That's why he has a 'Sports Science Coordinator' on staff. That's why the Eagles have put increased emphasis on nutrition, lifestyle and the way their players weight train. It's why Kelly's players immediately jumped into ice baths on the way off the field on Thursday.

It seems to be paying off early in the season. The Eagles have been relatively healthy. They have just two players, Chung and Brandon Boykin, on this week's injury report. Both have shoulder injuries.

Through the first four weeks of the season, only the Chicago Bears had fewer players on their injury reports. The Eagles have averaged 3.5 players per week on the report. The NFL average has been 8.8 players on the injury report. The New York Jets lead the league with an average of 18.8 players on their injury report.

"We don't do [the sports science] just for the sake of doing it. We do that because we think there's a benefit to it," Kelly said. "Obviously the big issues you look at are the soft tissue injuries because those are preventable. If someone breaks a leg, someone breaks a leg. There's not much from a sports science standpoint or preparation standpoint that goes into the prevention of breaking a bone."

Or blowing out a knee. The Eagles have three players on injured reserve with torn ACLs suffered during training camp.

What they haven't had much of early this season are the muscle injuries that Kelly and his program have tried to prevent. Only two players Boykin (quad) and Kendricks (groin) have appeared on the injury report with those types of injuries. Both were minor. Neither missed a game.

It appears to be a result of Kelly's increased emphasis on taking proper care of the players. When the Eagles walked off the practice field on Thursday, they walked immediately into ice baths before entering the building. They remained there for a few minutes (the rule is anything less than 10 minutes) to provide a "quick shock to the muscles." They then walked inside where there was some carrot juice concoction and a buffet of health bars.

PHILLY SPORTS ON SOCIAL MEDIA

• Follow me on Twitter



• Like us on Facebook



Getting the player to buy in to the program hasn't been a problem. They've admittedly been on board right from the start. Just like they coaches, they're looking for any advantage possible. This method of training appears to be one.

"I know some other teams in the league have a lot of injuries right now. We have, I think, one (Chung). And he's still practicing," said linebacker Mychal Kendricks, who didn't even count Boykin because of the mild nature of his problem. "That's a statistic to look at right there. We get our work done earlier in the week so we have more time to recover later for our game. We feel good so far."