‘Faith in Foles’ sounds like false bravado
PHILADELPHIA » Chip Kelly had a theory, catchy and brief. It was great for a sound bite. It was lousy for a pro football team. Culture beats scheme. Kelly believed he was smarter than anyone else dabbling in his industry, but that was only because he forgot that he was only successful when his college program was caught breaking NCAA rules. So he figured that whatever he’d cultivated in his locker room was sufficient for continued success. As for players, they were disposable, whether they happen to be DeSean Jackson or LeSean McCoy or whoever who annoyed the head coach as he strutted down a hallway.
The Eagles have grown since Kelly made that goofy proclamation then quickly saw his team spiral into insignificance. They trusted an NFL man to coach an NFL team and within two years were 11-2. But then Carson Wentz, the presumptive NFC MVP, was injured. And within days, the Eagles were walking back to that culture-scheme continuum again.
Though they are too smart to reduce their newly difficult straits to a three-word bumpersticker slogan, the Eagles have spent the last two days at the NewsControl Compound spreading the idea that no matter who they ram into a lineup it will work. Why? “This is the Eagles’ offense,” Foles said Tuesday, as if curious why anyone would ask. “This is the one that is the DNA of this team.”
And so it had gone for two days, first with Doug Pederson Monday, then Tuesday with Foles and offensive coordinator Frank Reich. Even defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz was dragged into the conversation, if reluctantly. To a man, their position has been that the Eagles are so thick with dedicated players, particularly in their mysterious “quarterback room,” that the players are as easily replaced as blown fuses. Pop one out, pop another back in, turn on the lights.
“We support the next guy,” Pederson said. “From my standpoint, you don’t waver, man. You don’t let people see you sweat. You just put your head down and you just go to work. You get everybody ready to play.”
It’s an appropriate coaching plan, actually, though Pederson may have stopped before insisting that not only is Foles ready to replace Wentz, but should the catastrophes multiply, Nate Sudfeld could replace Foles.
“We feel really comfortable with him,” Pederson said. By then, there was a choice: Either be entertained by the cavalier way the Eagles were dismissing the loss of Wentz, or to be insulted that they expected everyone to believe it didn’t matter. And weren’t the Eagles the operation that so concluded that the only boulevard to NFL fulfillment was to overpay for a franchise quarterback? And isn’t that how they wound up with Wentz, who had been better than any quarterback they’ve employed through their 57-year championship-free vigil?
So what changed between Wentz’s growing greatness and the rustling of Dr. James Andrews’ appointment book?
“One of the great things is that anybody that knows Nick knows he’s very, very comfortable in his own skin,” Reich said Tuesday. “He is very confident in his own abilities and is an excellent quarterback. And he exudes that confidence where the guys on this team see that, they feel that. You just know this guy’s been successful. Just look at what he’s done.”
Foles once threw 25 more touchdown passes than he did interceptions in a season, then won a prize as the best offensive player in a Pro Bowl. Since then, though, he has trended ordinary. In training camp last summer, he could barely lift his throwing arm, due to some vague reason that was never really explained. But he is ready, and he is confident. And there is a value in that.
“I’ve always been a gunslinger,” Foles said. “Just let it rip, that’s what I’m going to do. I’m going to play loose, count on the guys and lead this team.”
The Eagles have overcome some injuries, major ones, and still are likely to enjoy the home field advantage through the NFC tournament. That was their goingaway gift from Wentz, who had a season that justified the price Howie Roseman paid to yank his draft rights away from Cleveland.
Replacing him with Foles, though, may not be let-it-rip simple. Reich said there would be only “very minor, minor changes,” to the offense to accommodate the subtle differences in the styles and strengths in his two top quarterbacks. Foles wouldn’t even allow that, stressing that there would be no changes at all.
“Nick’s a smart guy,” said Schwartz, the defensive coordinator. “He’s got a great arm. He knows where to go with the football. He is a veteran player. I know the offensive guys have a lot of confidence in him. The defensive guys have a lot of confidence in him, also.”
That’s the Eagles, confident always. Lose one player, shove another into the game, win. That’s their culture. They are about to find out what that can beat. To contact Jack McCaffery, email him at jmccaffery@21stcenturymedia.com; follow him on Twitter @ JackMcCaffery