Chip Kelly is not concerned with the Philadelphia Eagles' quarterback competition and neither should anyone else. As the team wraps up OTAs and prepares for mandatory minicamps, the first-year head coach has been hounded with questions regarding who will start at quarterback in the first game of the season. Multiple questions have come up during interviews, and Kelly is pretty sick of it.
Kelly is tired of trying to come up with ways to say that both Michael Vick and Nick Foles are equal and even on the depth chart until further notice. According to the Philadelphia Inquirer, Kelly has told reports to stop asking about the depth chart because he was not going to speak on it anymore. Kelly is not concerned about the competition and neither are Vick of Foles.
"I'm trying to just stay focused and prove that I can move the ball with this offense during practice. As of right now, I can't think of has to happen or what needs to happen. I just have to go out there and work for it," Vick told reporters.
Foles echoed his statements, saying he does not even think about the competition but is only concerned with improving on his skill set. Both quarterbacks continue to rotate with the first-team offense as Kelly stresses that everyone must get an equal number of snaps. Even backup Dennis Dixon and rookie Matt Barkley are getting time with the first-team, but that does not mean they will end up being the starting quarterback.
Kelly is a firm believer in making sure every player practices with every unit, just ask wide receiver DeSean Jackson. He has seen playing time with the first-second- and third-team offenses during OTAs, something he was not used to when Andy Reid was head coach. Jackson contorted Kelly over the situation to make sure the two were on the same page about what he wanted from his players.
Kelly could hold off naming a starting quarterback until a week before the regular season begins. When coaching at Oregon, he was notoriously hold out naming who the top guy was until just before the team's season was set to begin. It is assumed he will take the same approach in the NFL and expects the media to comply.
