After missing two games due to a hamstring injury, the Philadelphia Eagle seem intent on bringing Michael Vick back to the starting quarterback position, as the other options for the spot haven’t proven to be too reliable despite the promising start.
Nick Foles had a very strong start against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and played well after coming in for Vick against the New York Giants, but apparently, what you can do against win-less teams isn’t the same as playing the best team in the division. Foles completed only 37.9% of his passes with a 2.16 yards-per-attempt average as he didn’t finish the game against the Dallas Cowboys (3-17 loss) due to an injury. Not that Matt Barkley did much better after coming in, throwing three interceptions.
Vick hasn’t said he’s starting, but it doesn’t seem like Chip Kelly is going to go in a different direction. Foles was disappointing in his performance against an average defense, and since this season began, Kelly has preferred Vick as his starting quarterback, even though he hasn’t thrown any interceptions in the time he’s been in.
I wish I could give you a definite answer, but I can’t right now. I’m excited by the opportunity if I can go. I can set my mind to play if I want to play. If I’m out there, I’m giving it everything I’ve got.
Pretty standard stuff. The Eagles are playing the Giants next; a different Giants team than the one they beat not too long ago because confidence does wonders to even the worst of NFL teams, and Eli Manning waited three quarters before destroying his team’s chances in that game. Kelly isn’t planning on changing his original plan now, unless Vick is too injured to play. Even if Foles hasn’t thrown any interceptions, his inconsistency killed the chances of him starting a game this season while Vick is healthy and not making too many mistakes.
As for Vick, there’s also the financial incentive to play. The Eagles reconstructed his contract last offseason, including a big $1.5 million bonus if he gets to play in 90% of the offensive snaps. However, after missing two and a half games, he won’t be able to reach that mark: Vick has taken 305 of the Eagles’ 504 offensive snaps (60.5%) so far, and they’re projected to run 1152 over the 16 games this season. Even if Vick plays the remaining 648 plays, not enough for the 90% mark, but enough to get the lower scale in the bonus chart: $1.2 million for being part of 80%. If he were to miss another game, the best Vick could hope for would be the 70-percent mark and a $900,000 bonus.