He didn't get cut. He didn't get traded. He didn't get benched.
No, Jason Kelce got better.
Kelce, the subject of nonstop speculation after a subpar 2016 season, has reshaped his game this year and in his seventh NFL season is playing the best football of his life.
"I think so," Kelce said Sunday after the Eagles trounced the Bears to improve to 10-1. "Across the board, it's been that way."
The Eagles are 10-1 with a nine-game winning streak, the offense is ranked third in the NFL, and a rejuvenated Kelce has been in the middle of everything.
Run blocking? The Eagles are second in the NFL with 148 rushing yards per game.
Pass blocking? Carson Wentz is having an MVP season with 28 touchdowns and five interceptions.
The entire line has been lights out this fall. But Kelce, in particular, has turned his career around.
You have to give the Eagles' brass credit for sticking with Kelce. Instead of just moving on and perhaps replacing him with Isaac Seumalo, O-line coach Jeff Stoutland worked tirelessly with Kelce during last season and in particular during the offseason, identifying his struggles and then working to correct them.
"It's been a lot of fun so far, and it was a struggle last year, especially through the first half of the season," Kelce said. "We've worked really, really hard, and Stout's been on me and he's staying on me all season with my hands and my footwork and my technique and it's really made an improvement in my game.
"I can't thank him and everyone else for sticking with me. It's been a pleasure this year to be able to play … not just myself but our entire offensive line, the way (Brandon) Brooks and Wiz (Stefen Wisniewski) are playing next to me are making my job easier, and the way the tackles are playing makes everybody's job easier. This has been a very fun year, I think for the entire offensive line so far."
With Kelce struggling halfway through last season, the offense sputtering and the Eagles losing games, Kelce and Stoutland began breaking down Kelce's technique.
Slowly, gradually, Kelce's level of play began improving. And this year, he's flat-out dominated.
"We really looked hard at a lot of the technique things," Kelce said. "Stout has been very critical and I don't know if it's when you're younger you get away with things because you're a little bit more athletic and a little bit stronger or if it's the no-huddle (under Chip Kelly from 2013-15) that allows you to get away with things, but I started to lose track of some of the fundamentals that allowed me to play at a high level.
"In particular, (my) hands. I think if you look at a couple games early (last year) it seems like I always have my hands outside. Sometimes if you're heavier you can get away with that, but when you're already undersized and you're losing that aspect of power, you're losing the leverage game, you're (going to struggle). Bad technique as well as being undersized is a bad recipe for an offensive lineman."
Kelce did make his second Pro Bowl team last year, but that was really just a tribute to his terrific career body of work than anything he did last year.
It wasn't until about this time a year ago that Kelce started to resemble vintage Jason Kelce once again.
Now, Kelce is better than ever, and it would be a shock if he's not picked to his third Pro Bowl team.
More importantly, the Eagles have won nine straight games, averaging 30.1 points per game during that stretch.
"I think it's a combination of I'm playing better myself and using better technique and I think the coaches have done a phenomenal job of putting everybody in good situations," he said.
"It seems like every single play we've got dialed up is to a look that we want. When you have good players put in good positions it's going to lead to good football, and I think right now we have a lot of that."
