FOXBOROUGH, Mass. – On the one hand, LeSean McCoy admits that his recent obsession with rushing for 2,000 yards has a lot to do with a promotional campaign for a company that makes dryer sheets.
On the other hand, he really would like to rush for 2,000 yards this year.
“Who wouldn't like to do it?” McCoy said. “What player wouldn't like to do it?”
Only seven backs in NFL history have rushed for 2,000 yards in a season – Hall of Famers O.J. Simpson in 1973, Eric Dickerson in 1984 and Barry Sanders in 1997, along with Terrell Davis in 1998, Jamal Lewis in 2003, Chris Johnson in 2009 and Adrian Peterson in 2012.
McCoy led the NFL with 1,607 rushing yards last year on 314 carries. He’d need to average 24.6 more yards per game to reach 2,000.
Considering the way Chip Kelly likes to spread the ball around and the addition of Darren Sproles, it’s going to be almost impossible.
Doesn’t stop McCoy from wanting it.
“I'm blessed to be with the type of team in the type of scheme to get the ball, catch and run,” McCoy said after practice Wednesday. “I'm surrounded by good players like [Nick] Foles, [Jeremy] Maclin and Sproles, so the ball's going to be spread around a lot, so 2,000 will be tough.
“But I just like to have fun with it. I let the media and all the fans really react to it, and the fantasy people. But the biggest thing is winning. That's what I want to do. That's the main goal.
“Last year I was successful and productive and we were winning. So the main goal is always winning.”
McCoy loves setting lofty goals.
Last year, he said he wanted 2,000 yards from scrimmage, and he wound up with a franchise-record and NFL-best 2,146.
Set the goals high and then go after him. When you’re as good as McCoy, you might surpass them.
"I really like to see the limitations that I have for myself and can I go past that,” he said. “How good could this team be, things that I can do to help the team do to be better, and running the ball and controlling the game from running the ball and making plays does that.”
As you might imagine, head coach Chip Kelly is not as obsessed with the numbers as McCoy.
Asked about McCoy’s sort-of goal to rush for 2,000 yards, Kelly didn’t hesitate before saying, “I don’t care. I really don’t care, and he knows that, and I’ve told him that.
“All we care about is are we winning football games. We've never been driven by individual statistics and he understands that. But if you ask him if he'd rather win a football game and run for 50 yards, I think he would be the first to tell you that rather than run for 200 yards and lose a football game, he'd rather run for 50 and win a game.”
McCoy is a legit MVP candidate, one of only nine players in NFL history with 5,000 rushing yards and 250 receptions in his first five years. His 4.8 career rushing average is seventh-highest in NFL history among backs with at least 1,000 carries.
But he stood and spoke passionately Wednesday for several minutes about all the things he needs to do better.
"So many different things,” he said. “Today, people might say I had a good day. I didn't think I played that well. I didn't feel like I played up to my potential today. Small things. Controlling the line of scrimmage.
“Sometimes I get wrapped up in my God-gifted ability instead of actually doing the fundamental things. Reading my keys, all the small things that you get away with because of your natural talent. But sometimes if you let the play develop and then use the other stuff it makes me better.
“Pass pro. Today I was 2 for 4, so 50 percent is not good enough. I can name different things. Ball security. Even though I really don't fumble the ball much, I'm trying to limit the ball being out so much.
“So there's different things that I can get better at. And I know that. A lot of players, they hide it. Because they get to a certain level where they feel they're so good. I don't hide it. If I have a bad game, I'll sit here and tell you I had a bad game. That's something I try to get better at.
“I want to be elite all the time. Not just Sundays, every day.”
McCoy is enjoying an exceptional training camp. We don’t talk about him enough. He’s a two-time all-pro and maybe we take him for granted this time of year.
But despite all his accomplishments, honors and achievements, he’s working as hard as anybody.
Pushing himself all the time, just like an undrafted rookie.
“He can do everything better,” Kelly said. “Until someone plays a perfect game, I think that's what we are all striving for.
“He can do a better job in pass protection, he can do a better job in short-yardage situations, he can do a better job in eliminating negative plays where maybe the hole is not exactly there.
“I think the great thing about him is that he wants to be that. I don't think he's complacent or happy in terms of where he is. Hopefully he thinks that last year was just him scratching the surface in terms of what his potential can be.”
McCoy was a first-team all-pro in 2011 under Andy Reid, when he led the NFL with 17 rushing touchdowns and 20 total touchdowns and ran for 1,309 yards.
And as much as McCoy appreciates Reid, who drafted him in the second round in 2009, he said Kelly pushes him harder than any coach he’s been around.
“I know how he treats me and I like it,” McCoy said. “Coach pushes me to the max more than any coach I've ever been around.
“Coach Reid, he pushed me hard, but once I kind of got to a point, he let the veterans go a little bit, where Chip is constantly on me.
“And I like it like that. I do. I like my coach to tell me good and bad because everything isn't always good. It's probably tough to tell certain guys, ‘Ah, you're not doing it.’ But I want to hear it.”