Center Jason Kelce opted to return for a 13th season with the Eagles after the team fell short of a Super Bowl title in February, but it’s not because he thinks the team will be able to roll its way back to that kind of success.
On Wednesday, Kelce said that he knows “some people like saying that” the team will be able to run things back because they have retained so many of the key players from last year’s squad but his experience tells him that “no two seasons are going to be the same.”
Kelce also believes that this season will pose bigger challenges because of the success that the Eagles experienced in 2022.
“We’re starting, in my mind, from ground one,” Kelce said, via the team’s website. “We’re starting from the very bottom again and we’re installing all the plays — this is what you have to do. You have to approach it like it’s a completely new team in a completely new year. You keep trying to get better and you keep trying to improve. We’re going to have to earn it the same way we did last year. They don’t just hand it to you in this league. In some ways, it’s going to be harder. When you do win and have a successful year, all offseason, all the offenses are looking to steal things that you do well. All the defenses are looking to stop the innovative, creative things that you’re doing so you have more eyes on you. You have more time being spent around the things that you do structurally. We have a lot to prove and it’s going to be even harder to have a really, really good season.”
The Eagles learned the schedule they will have to navigate last week and they should feel confident that veteran players and the recent history of teams trying to return to the Super Bowl will keep the team focused on what they need to do in the future rather than on what they accomplished in the past.
