EAGLES NOTEBOOK: Jason Kelce's Elbow, Darius Slay's Captaincy

Media was allowed back in the locker room for the first time in nearly three years, so there are plenty of player quotes, injury update, and news of the day

PHILADELPHIA – Jason Kelce is ready to start his 12th season, to make his 123rd straight start when the Eagles open the season in Detroit on Sunday (1 p.m./FOX).

It was a process for the Eagles' center to get to this point. Not only after a mid-summer surgery to clean out his elbow, but after some serious flirtations with retirement the past few offseasons.

Kelce said his elbow feels good, probably better than it’s felt in four years when he had it last cleaned out.

“It proved to be probably the right thing to do,” he said on Wednesday afternoon. “I tried to fight through it for a few weeks there early in training camp. In the past, once you get back into it, it kind of goes away usually. It wasn’t going away this year, so ultimately, we had to make the decision to either get it fixed and hopefully make it back for the first game, or try to ride it out.”

The procedure forced Kelce to watch training camp from the sideline for the first time since entering the league as a sixth-round draft pick in 2011.

“It makes you realize how much you love playing the game, and how much you’re going to miss it when it’s gone and how much it’s going to frustrate you to not be out there,” he said. 

“It was frustrating this training camp. I’m not going to lie. My dad used to tell me, ‘You can walk down the street right now, and trip over a curb, and your career could be over in a second; enjoy every snap.’ And I’m going to do that this year.”

CAPTAIN OF THE SHIP

Darius Slay is known for the fun he has during practices. The veteran CB likes to keep things loose by cracking jokes and not taking things too seriously.

That’s why he was surprised when his teammates named him one of this season’s captains.

“That’s what made it shocking because everywhere I been, it’s Slay puts smiles on faces, Slay laughs and giggles…but I’m always serious between the lines because I enjoy my job," he said. "I love to have fun, I love to compete. I might be joking but deep down in my heart, I try to win every matchup I can.

“If you’re not enjoying the game there’s no point in being out there. When it’s not fun and all serious all the time, it’s kind of boring. So I have fun, and for my teammates to see past that and know I’m serious all the time, it’s a blessing.”

Slay admitted to getting emotional when he found out.

“That’s probably one of the biggest achievements of my career,” he said. “Never been a captain before, so I’m like yeah, man, they had me a little teary-eyed for a minute, I ain’t going to lie. I was in the huddle like oh, snap. It’s a blessing, man, to be honored like that.

“I appreciate that from my teammates because I honestly go out there go hard every day, compete every day, and try to be the best version of me every day. And to know those guys see that means a lot to me. I wear it with a lot of respect.”

BACK IN THE LOCKER ROOM

Wednesday marked the first time since Jan. 6, 2020, that reporters were allowed back in the locker room after COVID-19 kept them shuttered.

Some player quotes:

• "I chose it to honor Jalen (Reagor). He's a great guy and we became close. He helped me a lot and I don't want people to forget that number." – Britain Covey on changing his number from 41 to 18.

• "I feel much more comfortable this year. Last year I was feeling my way and starting to really pick things up later in the season. Things are coming more naturally now. Any time you have experience doing something I think it comes a little easier for you.” – Tarron Jackson on entering Year 2.

• "It was an everyday thing. I had to stay uncomfortable every day. You gotta go to work every day. I never thought for one split second that I had a spot solidified….I look at it as a player, you gotta put as much effort in as you can. When I got my opportunity, I tried to try my best and gave as much effort as I could and hopefully that stood out enough." – safety Brian Blankenship on making the team as a UDFA.

SERMON ROLE

RB Trey Sermon believes he will fit perfectly into the Eagles' offense once he gets up to speed on the playbook and terminology, but was surprised he was released last week by the San Francisco 49ers.

“It definitely caught me by surprise, especially how I felt training camp was going, but again the NFL is a business and I’m just focused on now and focused on this opportunity here,” he said.

Sermon added that he was a bit uncomfortable not knowing what his future held after his release.

“It was a crazy feeling because I just didn’t know what to expect,” he said. “I really didn’t know what was going to happen. I just kind of had to sit and wait and let everything play out. But I’m excited for this opportunity and definitely excited to be here.”

INJURY REPORT

The Eagles released their first one of the season and it was good news for RB Miles Sanders, who was listed as a full participant after weeks of rehabbing a hamstring injury.

Limited were DE Derek Barnett (rib), DT Javon Hargrave (toe), and CB Josiah Scott (hamstring).

PS MOVES

The Eagles signed TE Dalton Keene and WR Auden Tate to the practice squad and released QB Reid Sinnett and RB La’Mical Perine.

Ed Kracz is the publisher of SI.com’s Fan Nation Eagles Today and co-host of the Eagles Unfiltered Podcast. Check out the latest Eagles news at www.SI.com/NFL/Eagles or www.eaglesmaven.com and please follow him on Twitter: @kracze.