Chip Kelly may not name Eagles starting QB till game time

It looks like the Tampa Bay Buccaneers won’t be getting any spoilers from Chip Kelly regarding who will be the Eagles starting quarterback when the two teams play Sunday.

According to Pro Football Talk, when asked when a decision needed to be made between quarterbacks Michael Vick and Nick Foles, Eagles head coach Chip Kelly replied, “12:59.”

Kelly decision not to announce the starting quarterback early could force the Buccaneers to prepare both Vick and Foles, who are very different quarterbacks. It was reported early in the week that Vick could miss up to two weeks with the hamstring injury that took hi out of last week’s win over the New York Giants. However, it was later reported that Vick’s hamstring is healing quickly and there is an outside chance he could play Sunday.

Indeed, Kelly has hinted at this possibility, per Pro Football Talk:

"I get a feel for Mike that he is improving. He said [Thursday morning] he felt good. I talked to him in the weight room, and he said he felt good, but we’ll see what happens [at practice]."

On the other hand, if Vick is unable to play, it is unlikely that Vick will be on the active roster. If this is the case, the Bucs will learn who the starter is 90 minutes before kickoff, not that that will do them much good.

Kelly said he does not want to put Vick at risk and wants what’s best for the team:

"We’re never going to put him in harm’s way, and we’re always going to do what’s best for the team, so the good thing is we still have three full days. We have Thursday, Friday and Saturday of training to really get a full evaluation of where we are with this whole thing."

While Kelly probably already has a good idea of who the starter will be, the Bucs (and fantasy owners) will probably have to wait till game day at the earliest.