Foles: I’m Not Afraid To Throw an INT


At one point this season, Nick Foles had thrown 19 touchdowns and zero interceptions.

Considering the ridiculousness of those numbers, some will naturally wonder whether he was overly conservative.

“I’m not afraid to throw an interception,” Foles said during an interview with ESPN’s Mike & Mike at the Super Bowl. “I know that it’s gonna happen. I know that guys are gonna look at me, look to me when I do it, and they’re gonna see how I react. And I want to sling the ball around. I want to throw it around. So if I do happen to make a mistake, the guys know I’m still gonna be slinging it their way and they’re gonna make plays.”

The numbers suggest Foles was more than willing to sling it downfield all season long. He led the NFL averaging 9.12 yards per attempt, and 27.4 percent of his throws traveled more than 15 yards downfield. That was the highest mark in the league among qualified starters, per ESPN Insider.

Foles’ resiliency was tested after his rough outing against the Cowboys in October. But he bounced back with a seven touchdown performance against the Raiders. The Eagles’ QB identified that game as a turning point.

“I think after the Oakland game, it was one of those things where the team was like, ‘Hey, we can do this. Let’s do it,’ ” Foles said. “And we just took it from there.”

Asked what Chip Kelly is looking for out of his QB, Foles added: “Chip’s offense, I believe, playing quarterback, the main thing is to get the playmakers the ball. And you have to make plays on your feet at times, but in Chip’s offense, he wants a guy that can distribute the ball, be smart, be quick in thinking and be able to react, be able to go fast.”

Foles goes into his third year as the starter of the defending NFC East champs.

“We had a good year,” he said. “It’s something that we’ve gotta build on. We have a lot of work ahead of us. Just because we played well last season doesn’t mean we’re gonna do it this year, so we have to have that same drive we’ve always had.”

Foles also joined The Dan Patrick Show. Video of that interview (where he discusses Napoleon Dynamite) is embedded below. Warning that the video was not working on my computer early Thursday afternoon, but it did work on my phone. Here is the direct YouTube link.

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