Tim Tebow in Philadelphia

Sideshow. 

Perhaps Chip Kelly was doing Urban Meyer or someone in the Florida family or Tebow himself a favor. 

Or perhaps the Eagles were trying to create a distraction for the local media, as a Tebow sighting is wont to create.  Give Tebow a tryout and the experts on the air waves will have a field day with the possibilities for him in the Oregon Offense.  Give Tebow a tryout and you divert attention away to Kelly's curious moves of trading a lot for a gimpy quarterback and emphasizing a running game in an increasingly passing league.  Give Tebow a tryout and you'll divert attention away from the fact that the Eagles have holes at safety, offensive line and wide receiver.

Perhaps that's all it was -- a distraction.

That said, the bigger distraction would have been had they signed Tebow.  Tebow is guaranteed to bring a media circus with him, even if his throwing motion resembles the back-and-forth of one of the oil wells in the lead in to the TV show Friday Night Lights. 

I don't think that the distraction worked, however.  The Tebow appearance was a bit like the passing of a comet -- people talked about it while it happened and for a little while afterwards, but they've moved on.

Which means that they remain curious about Kelly's moves and are picking at the roster openings as if they were infected, open sores.  Memo to Jeffrey Lurie:  you have an eager, somewhat desperate fan base, and they are confused and unhappy (at least many of them).  It's amazing how you and the front office and Coach Kelly have converted the over-the-top enthusiasm for Kelly's arrival two years ago into abject skepticism whether he knows what he's doing, all this despite being two for two in double-digit win seasons in his two-year career. 

Two years ago, everyone thought that Chip Kelly was a big step up over Andy Reid. 

Now?