Chip Kelly: Nick Foles Told Me, 'I've Never Played Like That'
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) – Nick Foles' stay atop the mountain of Philadelphia sports was a short one. After making people believe he should be the quarterback of the future after his performance against the Tampa Bay Bucs, he made those same people believe he shouldn't start again this year.
Foles told head coach Chip Kelly that it's as bad as he's ever played.
"Is there an explanation? No. I mean I think, Nick [Foles]---I talked to Nick briefly after the game," Kelly told Angelo Cataldi in his weekly call to the WIP Morning Show on Monday. "I know he was just, I don't know obviously surprised, just shaking his head, 'I just wasn't accurate, I've never played like that.' I don't know, I don't have answer for that one."
Still, Foles is young, and even the best NFL quarterbacks had trouble early in their careers. Dealing with a new offense and a limited number of weapons doesn't make it any easier.
"I think you always have to look at the body of work and Nick has done some really, really, really good things since I've been here and even before I got here," Kelly said, saying he still believes in Foles. "Nick's a good quarterback. He didn't play up to his standards or our standards, and we understand and we got to fix it, but I think Nick is still a good quarterback."
Foles threw for just 80 yards on 29 attempts, after throwing for 296 yards and three touchdowns the previous week.
"In the passing game we were just off all day. We had some guys open, we didn't put the ball on them in stride, and especially in some specific third down situations where if we just give them a chance to catch it and run with it, we felt like we could have got going," Kelly said. "We were just off and I don't have the answer because I know as a team I thought our defense played outstanding. I thought we did a good job in cover in a really good returner, but we were off all day offensively."
The Eagles had a chance to be alone atop the NFC East with a win, but instead drop to a game behind the Cowboys.
"Every single game better be the freaking Super Bowl and it doesn't matter if it's the Dallas Cowboys, or the New York Giants, or the Tampa Bay Buccaneers," Kelly said. "If you look at one team and say 'hey it's this team and if we beat them it's all good', it ain't that way. Every single week is a challenge and we better figure it out that it's a challenge every single week and go out there and play the Giants like it's the Super Bowl this week. That's how I feel."
Michael Vick's hamstring, and not the play of Foles, will be the determining factor as to whether Vick starts against the Giants. If not, it could be rookie Matt Barkley.
"I thought [Vick] ran around better in pre-game than he had before, so we're hoping that we can get him back," Kelly said. "I know he's working extremely hard and it would be a big help if we can get him back this week."
