Eagles starting quarterback Michael Vick was forced to the sideline in the second quarter on the Eagles' 36-21 win over the Giants after sustaining a hamstring injury. The Eagles replaced Vick with second-year quarterback Nick Foles, who finished with the game with an impressive 197 passing yards and two touchdowns in just over two quarters of play. Foles led the Eagles on four scoring drives and made several impressive throws in the victory that forced Philadelphia to play from behind in the fourth quarter.
Following the game, Eagles head coach Chip Kelly stood by his current starter, Vick. Kelly also added that Vick could have returned to the game if Foles was injured. The coach decided that Vick was not moving comfortably in pocket and decide to avoid further injury by letting Foles play.
While Kelly is behind Vick as the starter, he was very impressed by Foles' performance:
I thought Nick did a nice job. To come in, especially with that drive at the end of the first half, where we had an opportunity to go down and get a field goal, being in a two-minute situation. He managed the game really well and I was really happy with Nick.
He's a student of the game. He prepares himself like he is a starter because he is literally a chinstrap away from being a starter, and I think that's a credit to him. Some guys get discouraged (when they don't win the starting job), but he wasn't like that. When I sat down with him and (Vick) and told them (who the starting quarterback would be in Training Camp), (Foles) said, ‘Hey, Coach, you can always count on me, I'm going to be there.' And that's what he's done.
Vick also believed that he could return to the game, despite the injury. He said he felt good enough to play but respected Kelly's decision to sit him in favor of the healthier quarterback. "Yeah. I would have gone in and just made sure I could sustain for the team," Vick said. "The coaches understood, why have me in the game when I'm not 100 percent when you have a healthy quarterback on the sideline?"
Vick's status for Week 6 is unclear. The Eagles will travel to Tampa Bay to take on the Buccaneers on Sunday.
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