There was a moment against the Lions a couple weeks ago where it looked like Nick Foles might go in. Michael Vick was slow to the sidelines and the training staff had gathered around him to assess the damage. Foles circled nearby and as time ran short, he dipped into the circle to see if he was needed. He was not. Vick was going to be OK. Foles slowed his pace and resumed his normal sideline routine.
The routine itself is interesting to watch. Foles is pretty active. He’ll walk over to give the offensive line a pat; will have a quick word for an assistant or one of the players coming off the field. He’ll peek over Vick’s shoulder as he and Marty Mornhinweg look at the stills. Back and forth. Waiting, watching, waiting.
It has to be an odd existence, being the backup — and all the more being a backup for Vick. Especially this season.
“I just make sure I prepare the best I can,” said Foles, explaining his approach. “If you’re not prepared you’ll feel bad but I always feel good, we always work hard together, we prepare on our own and we prepare in meetings together. I just have to do that to the best of my ability.”
The noise surrounding the Eagles’ quarterback position has been loud and inescapable the last few weeks, though the 6-6 rookie out of Arizona says that he has been able to successfully block it out.
What if you’re sitting around watching SportsCenter?
“I don’t watch SportsCenter,” he said.
Well the paper, then.
“Don’t read it. I’ll see Yahoo! or something. But other than that, if I see anything that has to do with that I won’t mess with it because you don’t want to start reading a bunch of stuff. I haven’t read the news since I was in high school — like the sports news that has to do with me. I’ll read the news in general. But when it has to with anything I could be involved in I don’t like reading it.”
OK, but you have to be getting calls from family members and such asking you about it.
“Yeah,” said Foles. “But my family knows not to speculate.”
Locked securely in the cabin, Foles seems to be unaware of the rough seas outside. A coach and a star quarterback teetering on the edge; a franchise half-eyeing a new plan — one that may even prominently feature Foles himself.
He does not let these kind of thoughts in.
“I’m just studying the game film for the Saints,” said Foles, “and preparing like I always do.”
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