Eagles coach Chip Kelly is in no hurry to name his starting quarterback for Sunday’s game against the Buccaneers.
Asked when he needs to make a decision between Michael Vick and Nick Foles, Kelly answered, “12:59.”
Kelly wants to force the Bucs to prepare for both Vick and Foles, so it’s not surprising that he would say he might wait until one minute before kickoff to let them know who’s starting. Of course, if Vick’s hamstring injury is bad enough that he’ll be inactive for Sunday, the Buccaneers will know that 90 minutes before kickoff, at 11:30 a.m.
Vick says his hamstring is healing quickly, and Kelly hinted that Vick might be ready to go.
“I get a feel for Mike that he is improving,” Kelly said. “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].”
Still, Kelly said he isn’t going to rush Vick onto the field and risk aggravating the injury.
“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,” Kelly said. “We have Thursday, Friday and Saturday of training to really get a full evaluation of where we are with this whole thing.”
Kelly will probably know who his starter is by Saturday. But he may not let the rest of us know until the offense takes the field.
