Nick Foles took the first snaps of Philadelphia Eagles organized team activities Monday with the first team. Michael Vick took fewer snaps overall with the first team and more with the second team. It's May, so we ask: Does this actually matter?
Everything about this honeymoon offseason for Chip Kelly in Philadelphia will be closely watched. Foles' equal time with Vick shows that Kelly wasn't just paying lip service about a quarterback competition.Â
"The perception that Vick would have an edge because of his experience and mobility has wilted a bit in the face of reality," Phil Sheridan of the Philadelphia Inquirer wrote Tuesday.
It's way too early to draw conclusions, but Foles reportedly looked comfortable running some read-option plays Monday. Kelly would tell us that practice snaps don't matter, but that's not entirely true. There's a reason why Matt Barkley and Dennis Dixon barely take any snaps with the first team; they aren't part of the starting competition. Foles and Vick are taking the setup in stride.
"I don't think any of us really think first, second, third, whatever," Foles said Monday, via Comcast SportsNet Philadelphia. "When it's time to go up, we've got to go execute the play. Your mindset is that you're in a game and you're playing the situation."Â
"I'm learning the system," Vick said. "I can go out and run the practice with the ones or with the twos or whoever I'm out there with and get guys lined up. I think I can still make all the throws; I'm confident in that. Just learning how to play football a different way, different concepts and a different scheme. We're all a work in progress."
We consider Vick the favorite in this quarterback battle. But it's fair to say Foles will get legitimate chances to usurp him and win the job.
Follow Gregg Rosenthal on Twitter @greggrosenthal.
