After a second straight blown lead in the fourth quarter led to a second straight loss, you knew Eagles coach Andy Reid’s Monday press conference would be a spirited affair.
Reid said that the team would be evaluating everything during the bye week, but the two people that everyone wanted to know about were quarterback Michael Vick and defensive coordinator Juan Castillo. Vick turned the ball over twice on Sunday, upping his total to 13 on the season, and that led to a question to Reid about whether he remains committed to starting Vick at quarterback.
“Today, I am,” Reid said, via Tim McManus of PhillyMag.com.
We just went down this road of less than emphatic support for Vick a couple of weeks ago and there hasn’t been any change in the lineup or in Vick’s play. Making a move to rookie Nick Foles would be a drastic change of course for Reid and the Eagles, one that might not mean much positive given the way the offensive line is playing right now. That line and Vick were part of an offense that Reid referred to as “pathetic” in the fourth quarter, however, so changes could well be coming.
Castillo came under some fire from cornerback Nnamdi Asomugha after the game for changes to the team’s scheme late in the game, a charge that Les Bowen of the Philadelphia Inquirer reports that Reid disputed. He said that “as I’m standing here right now” Castillo would remain the team’s defensive play caller after they return from the bye, but also reiterated that they will be evaluating everything.
There’s much to evaluate for Reid because he knows these next 10 games will determine whether or not he still has his job come the new year.