LeSean McCoy: 'I want to roll'

ByPHIL SHERIDAN
December 19, 2013, 9:29 AM

— -- PHILADELPHIA -- Eagles running back LeSean McCoy wants to carry more than the ball, and this may be a good week for coach Chip Kelly to let him.

"I feel like this game, I've got to put the offense on my back," McCoy said Wednesday. "I want to roll. I feel like myself and the big guys up front -- we've got to put this game on our back and take care of business and get a win."

McCoy didn't second-guess Kelly for giving him only eight carries in Sunday's 48-30 loss to Minnesota. The week before, McCoy set a franchise record for rushing yards in a game with 217 in a 34-20 victory against Detroit.

"He's an offensive genius," he said of the first-year NFL coach. "I don't have to tell him I want the ball, I need the ball. He knows the right plays to run. I don't know that stuff. He knows exactly when to run it, when to throw it, when to get his playmakers the ball."

Still, it sounded as though the league's leading rusher (1,343 yards) this season was volunteering to be a key to Sunday's game against the Chicago Bears. It doesn't hurt his case that the Bears are ranked last in the league against the run. (The Bears rank 11th against the pass.)

"We watched the tape," McCoy said. "A lot of guys are gashing them. Missed tackles and things like that, it all adds up. It's a big game. I feel like the matchup is there."

It is safe to say that Bears defensive coordinator Mel Tucker would be grateful if McCoy ran only eight times this weekend. Chicago expects linebacker Lance Briggs to return after a long injury absence, but its run defense will be suspect until proven otherwise.

McCoy said he didn't know how many carries he had during the Vikings game.

"You don't keep track," he said. "You just know it's a lot fewer. It doesn't matter. Run it or throw it, as long as we win, it doesn't matter."