Official or not, Foles has won Eagles' QB job
PHILADELPHIA -- The question of who will be the Philadelphia Eagles' starting quarterback for the rest of the season has been answered. It will be Nick Foles, even though coach Chip Kelly has yet to make it official.
Foles locked up the starting job Sunday with another excellent performance in the Eagles' 24-16 win over the Washington Redskins. He completed 17 of 26 passes for 298 yards and extended his streak of passes without an interception to 199.
He leads the league with a 128.0 passer rating and is first in touchdown percentage, interception percentage and yards per attempt.
In his last three starts, all wins, he has a 152.8 passer rating. Since 1960, just one quarterback, the Cowboys' Craig Morton, had a higher three-game passer rating (155.2 in '69).
"The big thing for me with our quarterbacks is wins No. 1," coach Chip Kelly said when asked what he wants out of a starting quarterback. "And interceptions No. 2. And Nick has been really good at both of those. We're plus-10 (in turnover differential) in the six games we've won and we're minus-6 in the five games we've lost."
Kelly said Monday that Michael Vick, who has missed six of the last seven games with a hamstring injury, "probably could've played" against the Redskins. But he chose not to activate him. Rookie Matt Barkley was the backup quarterback Sunday.
"We were going to keep three quarterbacks active," he said. "We're hoping when we come back off the bye that Mike will be up and ready to go."
Kelly said he will sit down with both Vick and Foles "when they're both healthy," which presumably will be next Tuesday when the Eagles return from their bye week. At that point, he will confirm the obvious: that Foles will be the starter for the rest of the season.
The next big question will be whether Foles has convinced Kelly he doesn't need to look for a quarterback early in next year's draft. The guess is that the team will hedge its bet by selecting one in the second or third round, but not the first.
--S Earl Wolff did not play Sunday after suffering a knee injury the week before. The Eagles expect him to miss at least one more game, maybe more, before he is able to return.
--CB Bradley Fletcher missed his second straight game with a pectoral injury. Roc Carmichael replaced him in the starting lineup.
--LB Mychal Kendricks, who injured his knee two weeks ago, didn't play against Washington. The Eagles are hoping to get him back after the bye for the Arizona game.
