Philadelphia Eagles fans were not happy that referees handed Jason Kelce a false start penalty on third-and-inches in the Monday night matchup against the Seattle Seahawks. But the All-Pro center took accountability for the second quarter miscue where he moved the ball forward as he took his stance.
‘They’ve been warning me of that for years,’ Kelce told reporters after the game in Seattle. ‘I think when you’re trying to get a forward lean and you really do that, I think I had a tendency to do that in the past, so they’ve definitely warned me before. I think that I just got to be smarter. Especially in that situation.’
Kelce, who is a key component of Philadelphia’s signature Tush Push play, said that the distance to the first down probably affected the referees decision to flag him.
‘I think if that’s a full yard to gain, probably not as much, but I think because it was so short, the fact that I moved it forward at all was gonna get called,’ he said. ‘Just gotta be smarter than that.’
After being pushed back to third-and-six, the Eagles scored a field goal on the drive. They lost the game 20-17 after Seahawks quarterback Drew Lock threw a last-minute touchdown.
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Quarterback Jalen Hurts, who battled flu-like symptoms in the game, pointed out fouls as something that the team has to address. He was also flagged for false start in the first quarter.
‘We just have to be better,’ he said. ‘I have to be better, minimizing the mistakes, the penalties, the mental errors and just playing team football and it starts with me leading that.’
He emphasized consistency as Philadelphia is now riding a three-game losing streak with its playoff seeding on the line.
‘We’ve been talking about execution all year, being on the same page, everyone being on the same page and we didn’t execute,’ he said. ‘I don’t think we’re committed enough. Just gotta turn it around. It’s a challenge that we have to embrace and just continue to see it through.’