Kelly Leaves the Door Open For Foles

 

Immediately following the win against the Giants, Chip Kelly said that Michael Vick was his starter when healthy. On Monday, he allowed himself a little wiggle room.

“If someone comes in and puts on an unbelievable performance, you have to take it all into account,” said Kelly.

Can Foles win the starting job if he plays well?

“There’s always open competition. If Nick goes out there and goes 100-for-100 and throws 27 touchdown passes, then yeah.”

There’s a carrot dangling in front of Foles’ nose, then, as the focus turns towards the Bucs.

Kelly said that Vick has a pulled hamstring and is day-to-day. “We have not made any decision on who our starting quarterback next week,” he said. Meanwhile, a league source confirmed an Adam Schefter report that Vick is expected to sit out against the Bucs.

Bottom line, there is a good chance that Foles will be under center when the Eagles play in Tampa on Sunday at 1. That is the site of Foles’ only win as a starter. Last December, he went 32-of-51 for 381 yards against the Bucs with two touchdowns, including a strike to Jeremy Maclin as time expired to give the Eagles a 23-21 win. On Sunday, he went 16-of-25 for 197 yards with two TDs in relief of Vick. He seemed to be in-sync with the receivers, even on timing and anticipation throws despite coming in cold.

“We’ve talked to Nick since we made a decision at quarterback as we’ve said before, you’re a chinstrap away from going in the game,” said Kelly. “Nick has prepared himself like he was the starter every single week, and when his opportunity came I think he took advantage of it.”

On Sunday, Matt Barkley could be a chinstrap away, to steal Kelly’s saying. Is he ready?

“It’s hard when you have three quarterbacks to get reps and things like that. Matt does a really good job on the scout squad, and I know Billy [Lazor] takes those guys every day during one of our team periods, whether it’s Nick or Matt, takes them through a kind of throwing progression. We’ve worked Matt out every Sunday before games and I’ve seen Matt improve. He loves football so he’s around here all the time, he studies all the time. Obviously he’s not going to have as many reps as you would feel really comfortable in with a guy getting thrown into that situation, not going to have as many reps as Nick had, but I feel comfortable in what Matt can do as a quarterback.”