Despite Michael Vick not taking a single practice rep this week, Chip Kelly has yet to name a starting quarterback for the Eagles Sunday against the Packers. Photo: Delaware Online
While Chip Kelly remains steadfast in his philosophy of not naming a starting quarterback heading into Sunday's matchup with the Green Bay Packers, it's looking more and more likely that Nick Foles will make his fourth start of the season at Lambeau Field on Sunday.
Michael Vick, who has been limited in practice Wednesday will once again be limited during Thursday's practice at the Novacare Complex. So far this week Vick has only made throws during individual drills.
"Nick is the starter today," Kelly said Thursday when asked if Foles will get the nod one week after tossing an NFL record tying seven touchdowns against the Oakland raiders. "Yeah, Mike is limited. He's progressing and we'll see if he can get a little more in today. He didn't take any reps yesterday and hasn't taken any reps in seven-on-seven this week."
This season Foles has posted a 127.4 passer rating while throwing for 1,028 yards, 13 touchdowns and no interceptions while completing 61.4 percent of his passes.
The plan for the rest of the week is for Foles to continue taking the first-team reps in practice with Matt Barkley getting the second-team reps. It's apparent though that Kelly would prefer to wind up working Vick back in.
"If he can go, and he can get reps then we'll have to adjust it," He explained. "Before when he was hurt we were able to get him in there but we'll see what happens after he's out there running around today."
Still, the risk remains moving forward if the 33-year old will ever be able to return and play at a high level following his hamstring injury. It's no secret that injuries become especially difficult the older an athlete is. After Vick's inability to make it out of the first quarter against the New York Giants in his October 24th return that ended in disaster, Kelly is understandably cautious.
"He came back before and re-injured it shortly in the first quarter against the Cowboys and you don't want to rush him because it doesn't do anybody any good if he goes back out there and gets hurt again."
While Kelly for whatever reason refuses to commit to Foles even this week, it's difficult to imagine Vick getting the start against the Packers without taking any, let alone significant, practice reps.
However, given Kelly's MO in recent weeks on the quarterback carousel we may not have an official proclamation of a starter until right up before game time Sunday.
Matt Lombardo is the Editor-In-Chief of Eagledelphia and also an on-air personality on 97.5 FM The Fanatic in Philadelphia. Join the conversation and follow Matt on Twitter.
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