Chip Kelly dropped some big news today, naming Mike Vick the Eagles’ starting quarterback for Week 1 against the Washington Redskins and the foreseeable future. He probably could have waited another week to make an announcement, but Vick was clearly ahead of Nick Foles after the last preseason game and that was unlikely to change, so why wait?
Reactions from players are slowly trickling out of the NovaCare Complex. Chip Kelly had a press conference, while the quarterbacks all spoke to the media. Other players were still finding out hours after the fact it seems, but reporters were able to get a few of them to comment on the result. Here are some of their reactions.
Chip at his press conference, as transcribed by PhiladelphiaEagles.com:
Stay in the game with the latest updates on your beloved Philadelphia sports teams! Sign up here for our All Access Daily newsletter.
Q. How did Nick Foles take the news today?
COACH KELLY: "Nick was great. Nick is a professional. He was outstanding. Nick and Mike have a great relationship together. They're both pulling for each other and that is part of it. For us to have a good football team, two key ingredients are chemistry and attitude. When you see two guys like that approach this situation in that manner, I think it reflects great on the entire team. But you've got two class guys in Mike and Nick, and I think they're both rooting for each other. You don't have to look any farther than last night's game with the Redskins, where RG3 [Robert Griffin III] is on the sideline and Kirk Cousins goes down in the second quarter, and they're down in the third quarter. In this league, you better have a couple of quarterbacks ready to go. I mentioned that again to Nick today. I think Nick is going to approach it that he's the starter, because that's got to be his mentality going into this and prepare like he's a starter. And Mike was great when I met with him. Mike said I'm going to look at this like it's an open competition, because I've got to go out and continue to get better every day. So I think both of those guys and really the entire quarterback room and meeting with those guys, I think their attitudes have been outstanding."
Michael Vick demonstrating a positive, team-first attitude after coming out on top:
Vick insisted he must approach this like it's still a competition. "it'll be a shame if I let up right now."
— Zach Berman (@ZBerm) August 20, 2013
When Michael Vick walked to his locker stall after press conference, Jason Kelce congratulated him and they exchanged a hug, non-bro style. — Jeff McLane (@Jeff_McLane) August 20, 2013
News
Nick Foles, who obviously got some difficult news today:
Nick Foles was over losing job in '1/10th of a second. I was ready to get back to work. I wasn't moping around.' #Eagles — Jordan Raanan (@JordanRaanan) August 20, 2013
Nick Foles said he respects Kelly's decision, respects the process and said the coaches are "doing things the right way." — Geoff Mosher (@GeoffMosherCSN) August 20, 2013
Matt Barkley was never very involved in the supposedly open competition. His thoughts:
Barkley: I'm glad they made a decision. — Jimmy Kempski (@JimmyKempski) August 20, 2013
LeSean McCoy, perhaps the offense’s true star, weighs in:
Shady McCoy: "It's time to capitalize. We got tons of speed. We got tons of talent. Lets do something with it." — Geoff Mosher (@GeoffMosherCSN) August 20, 2013
DeSean Jackson, who in the past made it no secret that he thought Vick would win the job:
#Eagles WR @DeseanJackson10 on starting QB @MikeVick: "Since day 1, I honestly thought he fit this offense the best."
— Philadelphia Eagles (@Eagles) August 20, 2013
DeSean: Vick is eating salads.
— Jimmy Kempski (@JimmyKempski) August 20, 2013