Shurmur: ‘Not Saying There Is A Conspiracy’


 Pat Shurmur fielded question after question about the Eagles’ replay process Tuesday, specifically as it applies to the missed challenge opportunity in Green Bay. Something just doesn’t add up.

Shurmur explained that there are quite a few coaches in the booth that have their eyes on the monitor. If there is a play that warrants a challenge, a coach will relay the info to Shurmur, who will pass it on to Chip Kelly. On the Jarrett Boykin catch, no one in the booth saw an angle that convinced them to speak up.

“Had we had the benefit of the broadcast where they were able to cut it up, certainly we would have challenged, but we don’t get that. We do get some replays at times but there are times when they’re not that timely,” said Shurmur.

“We get a feed of some sort and I can’t always tell you what it is because I don’t know what it is. There are times we get replays, there are times when we don’t. The big board that you see is controlled by the home team, so when there is something that is significant for the home team, a lot of times you see a lot of replays. If it is significant for the visiting team, a lot of times you don’t see much.”

The Eagles should have been receiving the network television feed. It is in the rules.

The network television feed used in the coaches’ booths will be supplied directly from the network television truck, minimizing the delay between live play and the broadcast. This feed is identical to the feed used in the Instant Replay Booth. Prior to each game, the Instant Replay Technician, a League employee, will be responsible for confirming that both coaches’ booths have the correct video feed.

Shurmur later said, “We were getting TV feeds. In this case here we didn’t get it in a timely way where we could have done anything about it.”

Assuming they were getting the right feed, and with minimal delay, the booth should have had plenty of time to see what the rest of America did– that Boykin’s hand was out of bounds before his second foot came down.

“I appreciate the update on the rules — I know the rules,” Shurmur jabbed. “But all I can tell you in this instance is we didn’t get it in a timely fashion. I’m not saying there is any conspiracy here, it just didn’t happen.”

Shurmur earlier alluded to the in-house replay feed that is shown throughout the stadium. According to an Eagles spokesman, the televisions can be set to that feed. A league spokesman disagreed.

Regardless of what was being seen: should the Eagles designate someone who is solely responsible for watching the replay feed?

“If we had done it, that guy watching the TV wouldn’t have been able to do anything about it because it wasn’t timely,” said Shurmur.

Added Billy Davis: “I don’t think there is a flaw in it right now. We have a lot of eyes in the box looking at it and whoever wants to stand up and say, ‘Hey, definitely throw the flag,’ we throw it… I don’t think the system is flawed.”

The Eagles do not plan on filing a complaint to the league, according to Shurmur.

Injury update

Mychal Kendricks (knee), Earl Wolff (knee) and Jason Peters (quad) all sat out Tuesday’s practice.

Davis said that Wolff’s injury is “week-to-week, not day-to-day.” Wolff told reporters after Tuesday’s practice that there is no structural damage in the knee and that he hyperextended it. Patrick Chung, who will start in Wolff’s absence,  says that his shoulder is significantly better and does not anticipate it being a problem moving forward.