Daily Local News (West Chester, PA)
‘Improved’ Barkley takes huge step up depth ladder
PHILADELPHIA » Nick Foles is out with a clavicle injury, Mark Sanchez is in with an opportunity to be the Eagles’ quarterback.
That one-for-one switch, Chip Kelly made it clear Monday, was seamless.
The next one — would there be one, and, well, football is football — might not be as easy. That’s because the Birds replaced Foles with a quarterback who has had 62 games of experience as an NFL starter.
Sanchez will be backed up by Matt Barkley, who has appeared in three regular-season NFL games, none as a starter, none as a roaring success.
Kelly, though, seemed OK with that revamped depth chart as he met the press Monday, a day after the Birds’ 31-21 victory in Houston.
“I think Matt has improved,” the head coach said. “Obviously, it’s his second year in the system, and he has really worked very, very hard at it. So like most players here that are secondyear players, I think there’s been big improvement out of Matt.”
As a rookie Barkley completed 30 of 49 passes, threw four interceptions and did not toss a touchdown pass. The 24-year-old was a fourth-round Eagles draft choice in 2013, out of USC.
Barkley did complete 41 of 65 passes in the recent preseason, with three touchdowns and three interceptions, and was the ninthrated quarterback. His 495 passing yards were the ninth most in the league during the exhibition season.
With the loss of the signal-caller on both offense (Foles) and defense (DeMeco Ryans) Sunday, news of other injuries became relatively muffled.
But a third critical Eagle, right guard Todd Herremans, left the Houston game early with an ankle injury. That was after agreeing to play with a bicep injury that yet could require surgery.
In character, Kelly pretended to know little of Herremans’ status Monday.
“I know he had the MRI on his arm already,” Kelly said. “So I think they know what’s going on there. I don’t know if he’s going to get one on his ankle.”
The Birds’ line was due to be bolstered by the return of Evan Mathis, who has been out since Week 1 with a knee injury. Kelly believes Mathis will play Monday against visiting Carolina.
“I think so,” he said. “He’s looked good for a couple of weeks here. I think he’s just been champing at the bit. I know he really wanted to play (Sunday), but just because of how the rules are set up, he wasn’t eligible to come off until this week.
“I think he’ll be ready to play this week.”
Andrew Gardner replaced Herremans Sunday.
“I thought Andrew did a decent job when he was in there,” Kelly said. “I think he’s a competitor.”
Kelly was uncertain, though, whether Gardner would continue to pick up Herremans’ shifts, or if it would be Matt Tobin. Tobin had been filling in for Mathis at left guard.
“We haven’t gone through all that stuff,” he said. “We have an extra day here to plan. We’ve got Gardner and Tobin, who would be the two candidates to play on the right side.”
As Ryans was placed on the injured-reserve list late Monday, thus ending his season, his roster spot was filled by safety Chris Prosinski. A fourth-year pro, Prosinski played thre games for Jacksonville this season before injuring his elbow and being released with an injury settlement.
The 2011 fourth-round Jags draft choice from Wyoming has a reputation for special-teams excellence.
As the Sanchez era nears for the Eagles, it will hardly be anything dramatically new for Kelly. Seems the Birds’ head coach has had his eye on Sanchez for a while.
“I saw Mark play in high school,” he said. “I actually recruited the quarterback that played after Mark to play at the University of New Hampshire. I saw Mark in high school practice when I was coaching at New Hampshire. I’ve been very familiar with him for a long time. I coached against him when I was at Oregon and saw what a great athlete he was at the quarterback spot.
“I saw his arm in high school. I saw it in college. And I saw it in the NFL when we looked at film. So I had some familiarity with him.”
The Eagles will replace DeMeco Ryans with Casey Matthews and Emmanuel Acho, with Marcus Smith somewhere in the mix.
Mychal Kendricks will assume the duty of calling the defensive plays, which had been Ryans’ job.
But how about the leadership that will be lost with Ryans? How can that be replaced?
“I think it’s a collective group,” Kelly said. “I think it’s Malcolm Jenkins. It’s Cary Williams. It’s Connor Barwin. It’s Cedric Thornton up front. Obviously, Mychal Kendricks and Casey have to step up, and Acho at the inside linebacker position. But I think it’s a collective thing. It’s not just a one-person thing.”