Philadelphia Eagles wide receiver Alshon Jeffery had some interesting things to say about his former team and city before his new squad comes to Chicago to take on the Bears Sunday.
Jeffery, who spent the first five seasons of his NFL career with the Bears, was asked during interviews Wednesday about his time with the Bears, and he took what many thought was a shot at the city in which he used to play.
“I love the city of Philadelphia,” NJ.com’s Zack Rosenblatt quoted Jeffery as saying. “Chicago is just where I was for work.”
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After some furor developed over the comments, NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport reached out to Jeffery, who insisted via text message that he “loved” the city of Chicago and meant no disrespect. Jeffery also said that he was referring to the team dynamics at the time he left.
Jeffery also criticized the playing surface at Soldier Field, calling it “terrible.”
“When I was there we always used to tell the equipment manager that you gotta change the field, get the field better,” he said. “I’m not disrespecting them. I’m just saying: it’s terrible.”
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The field at Soldier Field has garnered some praise this season after the Chicago Park District changed where they got their sod from, but it will be interesting to see what Jeffery and the Eagles say about the playing surface this time around.
Jeffery, who had 65 catches for 843 yards and six touchdowns this season, will bring the Eagles back to Soldier Field on Sunday for a wild card game. Kick-off is slated for 3:40 p.m., and the game will air on NBC 5.
