LeSean McCoy says he forgives Riley Cooper because they are teammates, but the racist words he’s captured saying on videotape uttering hurts “because he’s losing a friend” and “I can’t support a guy like that.”

Cooper has been fined by Philadelphia Eagles management and ordered to counseling and sensitivity after the tape surfaced this week showing him reacting to an argument he had just had with an African American guard at a Kenny Chesney concert by shouting “I will jump that fence and fight every (N-word) here, bro.”

Eagles coach Chip Kelly acknowledged on Thursday that it might take a while for the team to get past the issue, and that he was "appalled" by Cooper's comments. In effort to calm frictions, Kelly chose quarterback Michael Vick to speak to the team about the issue and Vick has been at the forefront in addressing the media on the subject.

What if your son or daughter made a mistake of this fashion, how would you want people to proceed? I've been there before. It's a very delicate situation that we all understand. Somehow we've all got to find a way to get past it," Vick told reporters. said Wednesday.

Given his obvious leadership role in the locker room and his improved play on the field of late, some are even speculating that Vick might now be ahead of Nick Foles in their battle for the starting quarterback position.

But on Thursday, that subject seemed far from the most pressing on the minds of Eagles’ players.