Where the Eagles’ QB Situation Stands

Chip Kelly needed just three words to properly sum up the play of Nick Foles Sunday afternoon against the Cowboys.

“He was off,” Kelly said, before expanding.

“I guess that’s what I would say. At times we had guys open and we didn’t put the ball on them. But there were other times where we didn’t help him either.”

The whole “win as a team, lose as a team” thing almost always applies, but Foles didn’t give the Eagles much of a chance, going 11-for-29 for 80 yards and averaging 2.8 yards per attempt. Coming off a strong showing against the Bucs, the Eagles’ second-year quarterback missed open receivers all day long, held on to the ball too long and suffered a head injury late in the third quarter.

“I don’t have an answer for it,” Kelly said. “Again, I think it’s everybody on the offensive side of the ball. I don’t think we blocked very well, I don’t think we caught the ball very well. I don’t think we got off routes very well. It was 11 guys on offense. It was all of us on offense, me calling plays, everybody. It’s not just one guy.”

Kelly said Foles went to an independent neurologist, and he had no further news on his status.

Asked if the performance changes his overall confidence in Foles, he said: “No, I think you have to look at them through the whole body of work in terms of what he can do and can’t do. You hopefully like to chalk it up as just a bad day.”

Michael Vick was inactive for the game as he continues to recover from a hamstring injury. Late last week, he made no guarantees that he would be ready for next Sunday’s game against the Giants.

“He ran around this morning before the game,” Kelly said. “I think he’s progressing. I don’t have an exact number on him where he is. But he’s better than he was. Obviously, that is an injury that takes time. But I’m hopeful Mike will be back and we’ll have to make a decision where we are based on his health and Nick’s health in terms of where we are right now.”

Asked if Vick will start when healthy, Kelly said: “I can’t answer that question because I don’t know if he can go. I can say, ‘Yeah, he’s my starter’ and then find out he can’t play.

“I think he needs to prove it to himself. I’m always going to trust Mike. I think Mike understands himself. He felt like he wasn’t top end and he couldn’t do what he needs to do for him to be effective. I think not a lot of guys do that. Not a lot of guys will tell you exactly where we are. They just say, ‘Hey, I’m good.’ I think Mike understands his body and we’re going to listen to him. He’s worked extremely hard with our strength and conditioning staff and our trainers in terms of trying to get himself healthy. He had a good workout this morning, so we’ll see where he is when we get to Tuesday and we start practicing again.”

Kelly will have a decision to make before next Sunday against the Giants. If Vick is healthy, the guess here is he’ll be the starter. But that’s no guarantee. There’s a chance Foles could be ruled out as well. In that case, rookie Matt Barkley would be in line for his first career start.

Follow Sheil Kapadia on Twitter and e-mail him at skapadia@phillymag.com.
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