New Eagles coach Chip Kelly has been trying to sell that his quarterback job is an open competition, with Michael Vick and Nick Foles on “even” footing.
But Eagles wide receiver Jeremy Maclin said from what he’s seen so far, there’s a clear pecking order.
“Right now, you’ve got Mike going with the ‘ones’ and Nick sprinkling in some reps here and there, so, . . . " Maclin said, via Les Bowen of the Philadelphia Daily News.
While that hardly qualifies as a surprise based on economics and experience, the fact Foles is getting just a “sprinkling” is telling.
Kelly told reporters after his first minicamp in April the reps were “even,” but reporters weren’t allowed into the practice to see it with their own eyes. But Vick remained confident, saying: “This is still my team.”
That feeling seems to extend to Maclin as well.
Maclin initially said he was “not going to get caught up in all that,” but went onto say: “Michael Vick has proven himself as the guy. Nick Foles stepped in last year, and had some success, to a certain extent.”
Foles’ future in Philadelphia seemed tenuous from the start, even though the Eagles resisted offers to trade him to the Chiefs.
But Kelly isn’t nearly as scheme-tied as some want to believe, and the motley assortment of quarterbacks on hand (along with former Oregon starter Dennis Dixon and rookie Matt Barkley) speaks to the fact you can’t pigeonhole Kelly’s system.
But you can, apparently, draw a conclusion about how the competition is going to turn out.