Barkley Eager To Compete Against Vick, Foles

Matt Barkley met with the Philadelphia media for the first time Friday. A large crowd swiftly gathered around him just outside the NovaCare building as he stepped to the microphone, leaving no doubt who the biggest draw of rookie minicamp is.

The former USC signal-caller, who has been rehabbing from a separated shoulder, said that he is not on any kind of pitch count and is full-go. He got a good workout by the sounds of it on Day 1 — every rookie that met with the media was quick to point out how fast Chip Kelly had them moving. For Barkley, the challenge is moving fast while trying to digest a new system.

“It’s new terminology. It’s like learning a new language in a short time period,” said Barkley. “It’s the next step, I’m embracing it and I loved being out there today.

“You see similar things [to what Kelly ran at Oregon], and there are similar things to what I played. It’s a lot of different things, and you’ve just got to be ready to think quickly.”

With it being almost all rookies in the building at the moment, Barkley hasn’t worked with Michael Vick or Nick Foles yet. He has a little bit of relationship with Foles, having played against him, and got a text from him when he got drafted. He has never met Vick.

“You come in as a teammate to them, not as a fan,” said Barkley. “You come in as someone who is ready to compete against them at the same time. You’ll be friends. I’ll get to know those guys and from what I hear they are outstanding men. But you come in knowing that you have a job and they’re trying to take that job as well.”

Barkley remarked how it’s nice working with Kelly instead of against him, because he felt like every time he took the field it was after a score when he played Oregon.

“Now that I’m on this end I think it’s a better situation, and hopefully we can put that pressure on other team,” he said.

As for whether he comes in with a chip on his shoulder because he slipped to the fourth round?

“I think whether I went in the first round or the seventh round, I was going to come in with a chip on my shoulder looking to prove something. So it doesn’t matter where I end up. The fact is that I’m here, and I have a shot to play on the field this year.”

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