Eagles OC Frank Reich very familiar with situation facing Nick Foles

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As of Tuesday afternoon, Frank Reich hadn't yet shared any stories with Nick Foles about the 1992 NFL season, but maybe he will in the coming days. 

After all, if there's anyone who might have some idea of what Foles is going through, it's Reich. 

And this week, as Foles is getting set to take over for Carson Wentz, the Eagles' offensive coordinator can't help but think of his own experience as a backup quarterback, coming in for a transcendent talent and leading his team into the playoffs. 

"Absolutely. I can't not think of that," Reich said. "And (Jeff) Hostetler, when he stepped in and led the Giants to the Super Bowl right around that same time period, I was on the other side of that one. So Kurt Warner when he stepped in for Trent (Green), so on and so forth. There's other examples around, not just my example and Nick knows that. He's a smart guy."

Things worked out pretty well for Reich that year.  

Back in 1992, Reich was in his seventh NFL season and was cemented behind Jim Kelly as the Bills' backup quarterback. But after Kelly started all 16 games for the Bills, he hurt his knee in the season finale against the Oilers. 

The Bills needed Reich to start the next two games and he led them to wins in both, including the biggest comeback in NFL history. Against those same Oilers in the wild-card game, Reich orchestrated a comeback after the Bills were down 35-3. The next week, he led the Bills to a win over the Steelers before Kelly returned for the AFC Championship Game. Eventually, Kelly came out of the Super Bowl and Reich took over, but he couldn't pull off another comeback. 

Anyway … one thing still stands out about that season: People thought there was no way Reich could replace Kelly and things could keep on rolling. 

"I remember when in that year, everybody thought, well, hey, Jim Kelly, no-huddle offense and it was like, now the offense is going to have to change because the franchise quarterback was out and this backup was coming in who didn't have the same skill set," Reich said. "I remember as the backup going in and talking to our coaches and saying, ‘Don't change anything. This is the offense that I know. This is the offense that I want to run. This is the offense that our players are used to. Let's just keep this thing rolling. We'll get it done. We've got the guys in this room to get it done.’ This is our DNA. This is what we've built this upon, so let's just go in there and play ball. So that's what I expect from Nick."

Reich brought up that example to show the reasoning behind the Eagles' saying they're not going to change their offense just because they lost Wentz. The team is confident in Foles, even though they know he's not Carson Wentz. 

Back in 1992, Reich wasn't Jim Kelly either. 

A big difference between Reich in early 1993 and Foles right now is experience. Reich had started just six NFL games before starting in those playoffs. Foles has 36 career starts already under his belt and one start in the 2013 playoffs. 

At some point this week, Reich might tell Foles a story about the 1992 playoffs. It could be valuable. 

"But what Nick is going to draw on is his own experience," Reich said. "The guy went to the Pro Bowl. I mean, we have a backup quarterback who was the MVP of the Pro Bowl. Just credit Howie (Roseman) for having the foresight to get someone like Nick here for something like this."

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