Heading into his third season as the head coach of the Philadelphia Eagles, Kelly will be announcing his third starting quarterback to lead his program to the promised land.
Michael Vick started, got injured, then was gone. Nick Foles started, got injured, then was gone. This time around, it's down to Sam Bradford and Mark Sanchez.
Who, according to Chip Kelly, are still in a squabble for the job heading into training camp.
"I think it's always an open competition," he said in June. "You still have to go out and earn your jobs. If Sam throws 14 interceptions and Mark throws 14 touchdowns [this preseason] I can't sit there and tell the team that Sam's going to start and Mark's not going to start. It doesn't work that way."
The Eagles find themselves in a perplexing position. They traded Foles for Bradford and will pay him $13 million, which isn't backup quarterback money. But in Mark Sanchez, they have a guy who started half a season and played more or less well, and who has a whole season of familiarity with the team's playbook and culture.
And who took all the No. 1 snaps in OTAs and minicamp while the presumed No. 1, Bradford, played over in the corner with his knee brace.
Despite that twice-torn ACL, Bradford says he is ready to go for training camp when it begins bright and early next month. But he'll be pressed for time -- little more than four weeks -- to acquaint himself with all those things Sanchez is a year into. He's been relatively quiet through the process while Sanchez has been the picture of leadership.
For some, it looks like the presumed backup is taking things more seriously than the presumed starter.It was Sanchez who scheduled a private workout in California with teammates, including Jordan Matthews and Zach Ertz. It was Sanchez who threw the precise passes with the first-teamers this spring. It was Sanchez who has been healthy and kept himself that way.
It didn't go unnoticed.
"I think Mark's been outstanding in the offseason," Kelly said. "I think he's been fantastic in the offseason."
It was Sanchez, too, who engineered a 4-4 stretch in eight games with little notice after Nick Foles had his shoulder sat on in Houston. And walked away with the best completion percentage of his career (64.1 pct).
"I'm honestly not worried about it," Sanchez said about the competition. "I know I can play.
"I know I can play in this system. I felt like -- I've said it all offseason -- I left some big-time plays out there [in 2014], some throws that I can make in my sleep out there.
"A couple decisions here, one throw there, and like I said we'd be having a whole different conversation right now. I know I can do it. I feel like I'm showing it on the field now. If it's a competition, the best player is going to play."
But the reality is very simple. With what the Eagles sacrificed to get Sam Bradford (including a first-round pick in 2016), they have every intention of starting him and preparing him for the No. 1 job. But it's as close a situation as any in pro football, with as little difference in skill or competence between the two as any other pairing in the NFL.
That similarity, plus the entirely realistic assumption that Sam Bradford finds himself injured at some point in the near future, puts Mark Sanchez back in the gameplan.
But with the job still technically open, Chip Kelly insists the job belongs to "whoever's the best quarterback to give us a chance to win our first game."
@MrJamesParks
No comments:
Post a Comment