PHILADELPHIA -- The Philadelphia Eagles' assistant coaches were available to the media on Wednesday. That made it the only chance during this offseason to get a sense of what they’re thinking and doing as Chip Kelly remakes the roster.

Here are a few highlights from a session with defensive coordinator Bill Davis:

What have you seen from 2014 first-round pick Marcus Smith this offseason?

Defensive coordinator Bill Davis says he is focused on cutting down on the big gains the Eagles allowed against opposing offenses last season. AP Photo/Matt Rourke

Davis: "We’ve only had one week and a couple of days of going against each other, and Marcus hasn’t been in there (because of injury). We’re excited about seeing some growth from him, but we have to get him out there to see that growth. As we go on with the veteran minicamp and training camp, we’ll see a lot more out of him."

Smith added 15 pounds. Was that something the Eagles wanted him to do?

"Every player is different. The body weights that they can carry are different. We want them to be as big and strong as they can be without losing speed and agility. That’s different in everybody’s body. But Marcus is trying to find that place for him. He’s added some weight. He looks good."

What have you seen from new defensive backs coach Cory Undlin?

"Cory’s a great communicator. He’s an outstanding teacher. He’s really strong in the technique part of it. Cory’s been around for a while. We’re working hard to get the drill work to show up in the team work. And it’s happening. Cory’s got a good rapport, a good way about him. Probably one of the better teachers I’ve been around."

How does his style translate to an improvement in the players’ performance?

"I don’t know if I can put that into words. The things that he emphasizes in a meeting basis, in the individual period basis, have been showing up on the team tape. When you’re an individual, your brain is thinking about your footwork. When you go to team (drills) and you have a call that you have to execute and an offense that you have to read, your footwork kind of goes on its own. So you try to drill it and teach it to where they do it naturally. He’s taken big steps with the guys. That’s happening with the team naturally."

Did last year’s troubles defending against the pass cause you to look at the defensive scheme at all?

All of it. We looked at everything. It’s so hard to answer that question as a blanket for the season. Could I have given (cornerback Bradley Fletcher) more help? I could have. Or the technique he was using out there could have been better. We could have given him more help. There was a lot of things we had to look at. It is a combination of technique and how many times you split the safeties and give those (cornerbacks) help and how many times you don’t. You have to learn and evolve."

How much of that came down to "X plays" (20 yards or more)?

"It’s the extra-yardage plays. When you evaluate all the top defenses, it’s really yards per play. How many yards per play are you giving up? The best defenses have the lowest yards per play. That X play kills that. When you give up the most X plays, obviously your yardage is going to be just awful. There’s so many things we did well. But that is such a bad stat defensively that we have to fix that X play stat. It affects so many other things."