Kelly not naming QB Foles long-term starter for Eagles

Apparently record-tying performances do not guarantee starts in Philadelphia Eagles head coach Chip Kelly’s book.

ESPN is reporting that while quarterback Nick Foles’ record-tying seven touchdown performance against the Oakland Raiders has earned him another start next week for the Eagles, Kelly declined to comment on who will be the starter going forward.

“I think you’re more worried about it than [Foles] is,” Kelly said, when about how Foles was not named the starter after his 49-20 blowout win.

If healthy, Foles will continue to be the starter as long as quarterback Michael Vick is recovering from a hamstring injury suffered on Oct. 6. against the New York Giants.

When asked about Vick’s return, Kelly said he has given up on a timetable:

After we got past 10 to 14 days, I’m not thinking time frame anymore. I can cross my fingers. I can hope. But I can’t do anything about it.

Initially, Vick’s injury was thought to only take a week or two to heal, but has lingered much longer than that. Vick was healthy enough to start when the Eagles played the Giants again on Oct. 27, but injured it again after just nine plays.

With Vick’s return such a mystery at this point, there is no reason not to name Foles the starter for the rest of the season. Foles has outperformed Vick this year, and being much younger, looks to be the future of the franchise. On the other hand, Foles had never beat a team other than Tamp Bay in a start until last week.

This year, Foles played well relieving Vick to beat the New York Giants, and won NFC Offensive Player of the Week honors after beating the Buccaneers three weeks ago. His worst game this season came against the Dallas Cowboys, before he was knocked out of the game with a concussion.

“I thought the Cowboys game was the exception, not the rule,” Kelly said. “That was the first time I saw that out of him. So we’ll work off the Tampa game and this game and go from there.”

Based on those two games, there is no way Foles is not the starter going forward. Then again, Kelly has already made the Eagles’ quarterback situation a guessing game for most of the year. We probably shouldn’t expect anything else going forward.