Eagles coach Chip Kelly has said he’ll name a starting quarterback when one of them emerges as the starter.
On Sunday, Kelly dodged the question of whether any of the quarterbacks is emerging.
The question was simple: Are you seeing any separation at all in the quarterback competition?
The answer was complex.
“I thought today they all played really well,” Kelly said. “I was encouraged with the entire team to come back. We had Saturday off, but I thought the energy out there today, there was a real good give and take by both sides of the ball, so I think all of them on today had a pretty good day.
“When you go through it and you’re going as many times and as many evaluations, there is an up day and a down day, and up day and a down day. So who consistently over the time has played at the highest level? But to say one day this guy was above and then it drops, so I thought all three of those guys today [Mike Vick, Nick Foles, and Matt Barkley], and then the little snaps that Dennis [Dixon] got, they played pretty well today.”
So apparently none of the quarterbacks is separating. Or Kelly sees it and simply doesn’t want to say so.
Regardless, Kelly didn’t want to even suggest that the guy who starts the preseason opener on Friday against the Patriots can be deemed the leader based on performance.
“No, not performance, just what the depth chart is, who is available,” Kelly said. “What are we trying to put out there for one offensive line group, one tight end group, one receiver group. To try to get those guys how long we can go. There is a lot more that factors into it. Because, again, we don’t believe it’s fair to say, great, I’m here. But he played with a different set of people. So trying to figure out that part of it.”
In recent days, the Riley Cooper saga has provided a distraction to the quarterback competition. Before too long, however, Kelly’s selection of a starter, or his effort to delay it as long as possible, will become the top story for the team.