NFL teams
Kevin Seifert, ESPN Staff Writer 10y

What it's like to block for Darren Sproles, LeSean McCoy and the Eagles' offense

As the center in a complex and fast-paced offense, Jason Kelce must think quickly and run faster. As his Philadelphia Eagles drove for a game-tying score Monday night, Kelce literally couldn't get away from teammate Darren Sproles on a screen play. He found himself pinballing between bodies as Sproles -- all 5-foot-7 and 190 pounds of him -- rumbled down the field for 51 yards.

In the Eagles' 30-27 victory over the Indianapolis Colts, Sproles finished with a career-high 152 receiving yards. All but 4 of those yards came after the catch. Below are Kelce's extended thoughts about Sproles, his pairing with running back LeSean McCoy and how dangerous the Eagles are in the opening field, as told to ESPN's Kevin Seifert and others in the Eagles' locker room.

INDIANAPOLIS -- That screen, I think both of our guards were outside of me. They kind of had the outside sealed, and I thought Sproles was going to cut back, so I just turned upfield.

Sproles ran into me a little bit and was kind of waiting for me to get going. He did a good job being patient, and I ended up getting an extra guy. Really, he kind of knocked into me for the most part. I got hit pretty good, but it was enough to seal it from [the defender] making it to Sproles.

I didn't really know the guy when he first got here. I had never met him. You knew he was a good player. Anyone who watched New Orleans play knows he was a great player. I didn't really know what to expect from him in this offense, but he's been awesome since he's been here.

I can't really pick out a particular moment when that was clear, but what you don't know until you play with him is how dedicated of a guy he is. He's a hard worker, very professional, and you see that with the way he plays on Sundays.

On his touchdown run, I'd have to go back on the film, but I think he made more out of that run than there actually was there. He made a guy miss who was unblocked. Then he made a few more guys miss and scrambleD into the end zone. So it was an outstanding run by him. I don't know that the offensive line had much to do with that one.

Getting Sproles here gave us two very dynamic backs who at anytime can take a play that really doesn't have anything and make it into a strong run for us. To tell you the truth, I don't know who is back there. Both him and Shady [McCoy] are both guys who make people miss and have tremendous vision. There's not too much of a difference between them.

They both can do everything. I don't think we're limited to certain plays with either one of them back there.

That's tough for defenses to defend. They're both good at a lot of different things. Screens, runs, draws, pretty much anything, they can do. It's great to have both of them. We can spell Shady a little bit. He doesn't have to take so many carries and get tired out.

That's part of what this offense is built on -- the ability to spread the width of the field and attack everything. So if you're going to try to pack it in, you can attack the outside. If you want to spread it out, we'll get downhill and have a good running game.

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