Chip Kelly Says He'll Sit Down With Michael Vick And Nick Foles
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) – Michael Vick's hamstring injury has prevented him from being available to play for the Eagles, but it's also given head coach Chip Kelly a bit of an out in any "who is the starting quarterback" question. Very soon, that will not be the case, and Kelly says he'll deal with it when the time comes.
Kelly has repeatedly said that he makes his decision on who starts at quarterback based on health. As Michael Vick has been injured, there hasn't really been any decision to make. Foles was the starter, even though Kelly generally refrains from make the proclamation until late in the week. However, with the bye week on deck, and Vick's health improving, Kelly will no longer be able to lean on 'health' as the reason that Nick Foles is the starter over Michael Vick.
"When they're both healthy, I'll sit down with both of them when they're both healthy," Kelly said, when asked the same question he's been asked repeatedly since training camp. Kelly said that Vick's health has been improving, and in an emergency situation, could have played against Washington. "[Foles is] going to start for the bye week (joking). So you guys want to know who the starting quarterback is? Nick will be the starter for the bye week."
Foles has been lights-out since his terrible performance against the Cowboys. The Eagles have won three in a row, and Foles has not thrown an interception. While the accuracy of Foles' throws hasn't been a revelation, his running has been. He hasn't been lighting fast, but he has been effective.
"I think it's been good. He's missed a [run reads]and he'll admit that. But a lot of that is through repetition," Kelly said. "You've got to get a feel for how to do it. A lot of that is how much do we want to put him in those situations where if we hand it off, we get three. Yeah, we'll live with that. We're good with second and 7. But it's an experience factor. You get a little bit more comfortable, little better feel of it. You get an understanding of what you can do and what you can't do."
"I think when Nick takes off, it's not 60 yards, but it's 6. In critical situations, he can still do that. So that is the point I was trying to stress there. We're not calling ‑‑ it's not an entirely different package. But I think in everybody, there are subtleties in there that Nick may like this throw better than Mike [Vick] likes that throw. But overall we're still running four verticals, double post concepts. We're still running the quick game, still running our schemes. So I think that part is similar."
