PHILADELPHIA -- When Eagles owner Jeffrey Lurie pulled the plug on the Chip Kelly experiment Tuesday night in a terse statement, there apparently were several reasons that led to the polarizing head coach being fired before he finished his third season with the club.

Kelly failed to deliver results -- including a playoff win. The Eagles are 7-11 since beating the Dallas Cowboys on Thanksgiving Day in 2014. Kelly also failed in his role as personnel executive in his only season with complete control of the roster.

But a former Eagles player, who spoke to NJ Advance Media on the condition of anonymity, says Kelly likely was undone mostly because of a toxic locker room culture. There have been hints of that recently with lineman Jason Peters benching himself, and running back DeMarco Murray complaining to Lurie.

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"I know there were reports that Chip lost the locker room this season," the ex-Eagles player said. "I can tell you, he never had the support of the team this year. It was a toxic situation from the moment I arrived. Those guys in that locker room almost universally despised him."

The former player's assessment confirms what an agent for an Eagles starting player told NJ Advance Media last month before a Thanksgiving Day loss to the Detroit Lions. The agent said Kelly had lost the team and a player with a minor injury had refused to play hurt for Kelly.

Peters tapped out of Saturday's blowout loss to the Washington Redskins at Lincoln Financial Field, according to multiple reports, because he did not want to risk further injury for a team not heading for the playoffs.

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Earlier this season, Peters said that he plays for Lurie, not Kelly.

The former Eagles player who spoke to NJ.com said Peters was not alone in his lack of commitment to Kelly.

"There are veteran offensive linemen on that team that spoke openly about only wanting to play out their contracts," the ex-player said. "Just so they could get away from Chip Kelly."

Matt Lombardo may be reached at MDLombardo@yahoo.com. Follow him on Twitter @MattLombardo975. Find NJ.com Eagles on Facebook.