Chip: Foles Is Not Healed


Photo Credit: Jeff Fusco

Photo Credit: Jeff Fusco

Nick Foles‘ checkup did not produce the news many were hoping for.

“Nick is not healed. He is out this week. The bone is not healed,” said Chip Kelly at his day-after press conference. “We will move forward without him. He is going to start throwing a little bit more but he is out right now.”

How long will he be out?

“I know he’s not cleared. That’s the only thing they just told me right now. He’s not cleared. He will not play this week,” said Kelly. “They said it’s not fully healed and until he gets fully healed he’s not going to be able to play with it. They think he’ll be able to throw a little bit more this week but we can’t have anything near him from a contact standpoint.”

Foles fractured his collarbone against Houston on November 2. He has already missed six games since suffering the injury, and will sit out at least one more. Mark Sanchez will be the quarterback Saturday when the Eagles play at Washington.

“I think so,” said Kelly, when asked if he has gotten good enough quarterback play over the last two weeks to win. “But overall, I think the entire team, there’s been good and bad at every position. I think we have to be more consistent overall and Mark will be the first to tell you that  and I think everybody else here will tell you that.”

— The struggles of Bradley Fletcher and the secondary was a topic of conversation. Kelly suggested that he will not make any changes to the starting rotation.

“The one thing I like about Fletch is he’s going to compete out there,” said Kelly. “He made a bad turn once on a ball. The other ball I think if you look at it was a perfect football thrown by Tony [Romo] and a great route run by Dez [Bryant]. You’re getting matched up against one of the best in the league — big, tall, physical receiver and that’s a tough matchup for anybody. We still have confidence in Bradley and he’s going to be our corner this Saturday.”

Kelly said that Billy Davis called a lot of double teams for Bryant in the first half, which Romo took advantage of by finding Jason Witten. 

“Some of Billy’s decisions — and I agreed with his decisions — were,  now the tight end is killing us so we have to help somewhere else but then they come back and they found Dez.”

— Kelly suggested that Brad Smith was responsible for fielding the opening kickoff, not Josh Huff.

“The upback should have taken it. We were on the 10, the ball landed on the 15. Josh was too deep for him to field the kick. I think what he thought was that the ball came off his foot pretty good but it got held up by the wind.”

Jeff McLane  caught up with DeSean Jackson in front of the Eagles’ upcoming rematch with Washington.

Asked if he thought the Eagles missed him, Jackson replied: “They still got [Jeremy] Maclin. I’m happy for my boy. He’s been dealing all year,” Jackson said. “But it’s Maclin and that’s all they got.”

Some more from the story:

“Nope. I don’t miss the team. I don’t miss the organization,” Jackson said to The Inquirer. “There’s no point in living in the past. This is my team. This is where I am for better or worse. Do you live in the past? It’s no way to live.”

In September, Eagles running back LeSean McCoy, who speaks to Jackson regularly, said that he still cared about the team and still wondered why he was released. Jackson said on Sunday that he never received clarification. Did he still want an explanation?

“Didn’t you hear? I’m a gangster,” Jackson joked. “I’m in a gang. That’s why I’m gone.”

Jackson had five catches for 117 yards and a touchdown in a losing effort against the Eagles back in September.

— Lastly, some injury news that could be of significance to the Eagles:

The Eagles need the Cowboys to lose one of their final two games in order to have a chance at the division title.