Foles likely to start for Eagles

By MCCLATCHY TRIBUNE Published November 14, 2012 at 12:13am Updated November 14, 2012 at 12:13am

Nick Foles isn’t the Philadelphia Eagles starting quarterback.

Yet.

But it seems all but certain the rookie will hold that position come Sunday when the team is at Washington, since it seems unlikely that Michael Vick will be able to play.

Vick suffered a “pretty significant concussion” in a 38-23 loss to Dallas Sunday and spent Monday resting at home, according to head coach Andy Reid.

Vick must pass a series of tests before he is cleared to practice or play, and since he wasn’t even at the NovaCare Complex Monday, it’s very likely he won’t be cleared in time for the game.

“I think we’ll know here in the next couple of days,” Reid said when asked how far into the practice week he can go without knowing if Vick can play. “I think we’ll have a pretty good idea.
The thing I’m telling you now is I think it’s a pretty significant concussion there.”

Vick was injured in the second quarter Sunday, presumably when he was knocked down by linebacker Ernie Sims on an incomplete pass.

But Vick also took a hard shot the play before from lineman Jay Ratliff at the end of a scramble.

Foles took over and played the rest of the game in his first regular season action. He threw a 44-yard touchdown pass to give the Eagles a third-quarter lead, but also threw an interception for a TD and was sacked and fumbled into the end zone for another TD in the final seconds. He finished 22-for-32 for 219 yards and an 85.3 passer rating.

“I’ll tell you he did a nice job of keeping his eyes down the field when he was under pressure,” said Reid. “He had a couple of nice plays there. There were a couple of plays there that he’d like to have back, but I thought he did a pretty good job with that. I thought he got the ball out on time. He handled pressure well when it was in his face, and he didn’t move.”

Reid said Foles will practice with the starters Wednesday, but said he wasn’t ready to rule Vick out for this week.

“Not right now,” he said. “We’ll go through the protocol here. I’ll just tell you, though, that it’s a pretty good one. So we’ll go through the protocol.”

Reid said Vick has been in communication with head athletic trainer Rick Burkholder and will continue to speak with him until the testing begins.

“His recollection of it he was a little foggy last night after the incident,” said Reid. “Today he’s resting. Right now, this period is very important that he does rest.”

Reid tried to steer talk away from whether Foles could win the job as the starter before Vick returns, but did admit the player who gives the team the best chance to win would keep the job, which he said is the case with all positions.

“These are all projections,” Reid said. “I’m just telling you Michael is hurting right now; Nick is going to step in and be the quarterback until that point comes; and we’ll take it all from there.”