With Nick Foles suffering a concussion Sunday and Michael Vick's status still unknown, Chip Kelly has yet to name a starting quarterback for Sunday's game against the Giants.
As if it wasn't apparent enough Sunday after Nick Foles left the game late in the third quarter with a head injury, Philadelphia Eagles head coach Chip Kelly revealed Monday that the quarterback suffered a concussion.
Foles, who departed Sunday's 17-3 loss to the Dallas Cowboys at Lincoln Financial Field with three seconds remaining in the third quarter after being sacked by Jarius Wynn, had his worst game as a professional throwing for just 80 yards against a Cowboys defense that averages 308 yards passing against per game.
In spite of his poor performance, Kelly does not believe that the second-year University of Arizona product was rattled, rather something was just "off" with him.
"I didn't see that," Kelly said at his day after press conference Monday at the Novacare Complex. "I haven't spoken to him but Nick has never struck me as a guy where the moment effects him. Nick came in against the Giants off the bench cold and led us on a two-minute drive to get us a field goal. I saw him play a lot in college and I've never seen Nick get overwhelmed or anything like that."
The Eagles face a very perilous situation this week with Foles availability uncertain and Michael Vick still recovering from his hamstring pull suffered three weeks ago against New York. If neither quarterback is healthy enough to start, the Birds would likely be forced to turn to rookie Matt Barkley who threw three interceptions in the fourth quarter of his NFL debut Sunday.
However, in a dramatic change in philosophy from training camp when the head coach emphatically made it clear that once a starter was named he would remain the quarterback the rest of the season, Kelly has been evasive the past two weeks when the subject of the quarterback for the remainder of the year is broached.
"My decision based on who our quarterback is is based on health," Kelly said. "I don't know who's healthy right now and who isn't healthy and until we know that answer it doesn't do anybody any good to say 'that guy' is our starter. It doesn't help the situation until we know who's coming back and depending on who is healthy."
"All things being equal you're never going to get that answer out of me."
In the event that neither Vick or Foles is healthy enough to start on Sunday, James Casey who served as the emergency quarterback Sunday would be the backup against the Giants this week.
Kelly didn't rule out signing another quarterback at some point this week.
"Yeah, if those guys can't go," He explained. "Obviously we'd have to bring in another quarterback."
The quarterback watch at One Novacare Way has been ongoing since the spring but this week with two injuries added into the mix, it certainly could make for an extra interesting six days leading up to 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.
