Animated Kelly Tackles QB Question


Photo | Jeff Fusco

Photo | Jeff Fusco

“Let me ask you a serious question,” said Chip Kelly, throwing it back at a reporter. “How many times are you going to ask me that same question?”

The question was about (you guessed it) the train wreck of a quarterback situation. Will Kelly go week-t0-week with this thing? When Michael Vick returns from his hamstring injury, what then? Kelly didn’t come across as angry, but grew about as animated as we have seen him since he took over the head coaching job back in January.

“I am going to make my determination on a weekly basis who our quarterback is first and foremost based on health. The ideal world, Mike’s the healthiest in the world, Nick’s the healthiest in the world, Matt’s the healthiest in the world. Let’s get to that point in time and then we’ll have a conversation.

“I’m getting ready to play the Oakland Raiders, and I’m getting ready with Nick Foles and Matt [Barkley] because Mike is not practicing today and that’s it.”

The instability at quarterback and the Eagles’ 3-5 record has a lot of people thinking big picture. Do you start going into evaluation mode to get a better feel for what you have on your roster?

Kelly was asked: Where does next year come in?

“It doesn’t come in,” he shot back. “It’s about beating Oakland, that’s it. It’s a one-week season and that’s all it is. Last week it was about beating the Giants. There wasn’t. ‘Hey, what are we going to be like next year and let’s go see if we can activate G.J. [Kinne] and throw him into the mix.’ That’s not our mentality. Our mentality is, who are we playing right now. And I think it’s a disservice to those other players on our team and it’s a disservice to our fans if I’m thinking about who our quarterback is going to be next year. I’m thinking about beating who we are playing this week. And we’re playing the Oakland Raiders and that’s it. That’s the deal.

“It will never be that way. We’re trying to win the game we’re playing this week. And if we start playing it long term, I may not be here long term. You know what I’m saying? So let’s go beat Oakland.”

Kelly said that Foles will get the start against the Raiders. Vick will sit as he continues to battle through a hamstring injury. The MRI did not reveal any new injuries to the QB, according to Kelly.