The Philadelphia Eagles will be missing center Jason Kelce on the field this season, but that does not mean that he will not be around the team in some type of capacity, and Lane Johnson spoke on how often the former center has been in the facility this offseason during an appearance on the Up and Adams show.
“Most definitely (he should coach), he was in the building maybe more than a lot of players this offseason,” Lane Johnson said on Up and Adams. “Yeah, he was in there lifting, he would be stretching, he would be talking. I think he was just kind of seeking advice from people, opinions about his future, but he was in the building a lot.”
It is interesting to hear that Jason Kelce is in the Eagles’ facility this offseason, but it is not a big surprise either. The Eagles have a culture set that goes back a long way, pretty much a decade. Kelce and Johnson played together for a long time, and Kelce was a leader for the Eagles over that time period. He can continue in that role in some way. Interestingly enough, Johnson said other former Eagles players like Brent Celek and Connor Barwin still come to the building fairly often as well.
“It’s going to be tough, but I think he’ll be in the building at least once or twice a week,” Johnson said on Up and Adams. “(Brent) Celek’s kinda already doing that. Connor (Barwin)’s in the building, so I expect him to be in the building.”
Given that Kelce is going to be in the building each week and will be on ESPN’s Monday Night Football broadcast, particularly during the pregame, it will be interesting if he has some inside information on the Eagles that he could offer.
Jason Kelce’s current place in Eagles’ facility
Johnson indicated that Kelce’s locker has been moved to the coach’s locker room, and also said that during the season, Kelce had so many packages that it was hard to get to his actual locker. Now, the coach’s locker room might have that same problem.
“Yes, I think he has a locker in the coach’s locker room now,” Johnson said on Up and Adams. “They better watch out because this guy had more packages at his locker, you couldn’t even get to his locker. There was just boxes, I mean he kinda created like a little fort during the year, you couldn’t get back to the back of the locker. So watch out coach’s locker room.”
It will be interesting to see Kelce’s involvement with the Eagles in retirement, and whether or not he has an official title, it will be valuable for players to talk to him and bounce ideas off of. If he is in there weekly, like Johnson said, that could be huge for the Eagles during the season when it comes to dealing with the ups and downs.
It is apparent that Philadelphia has a good culture and welcomes its former players back, and Kelce is just another example of that.
