On Tuesday morning, Chip Kelly met with Nick Foles and Michael Vick to inform his quarterbacks that Foles would be the Eagles' starter moving forward. Though no formal announcement was given to the rest of the team, word made its way around the locker room (mainly due to reporters asking about the topic) and players reacted to the news that Foles is now the team's No. 1 signal caller.
"I think it's great," said cornerback Brandon Boykin. "Nick has earned it. He's played awesome up to this point. We just have confidence in him and the things that he can do. Everybody believes in him, and I'm just excited for him."
"I know Nick has got to be excited," said wide receiver Riley Cooper. "I'm proud of him. I love both Mike and Nick, but it was Coach Kelly's decision, and we have to go with it. … He's just playing great football right now."
Some current members of the Eagles were with the team in 2010, when it was Vick who was thrust into the starting job after Kevin Kolb went down in the season opener with a concussion. Those players know that as long as the team is winning, a change at the quarterback position doesn't mean all that much.
"We still have to go out there and play the same," said tight end Brent Celek. "I'm happy for him, but we have to win football games and that's all that matters. We're going to go out there and give it everything that we've got no matter who is at quarterback. We have faith in everybody that plays that position and we're not going to back down under any circumstances."
"I think it's the same regardless of who our quarterback is," said wide receiver DeSean Jackson. "At the end of the day, we have to support one another. We work so hard to stay at the top of our game and just play together. Regardless of who's in there at quarterback, we just have to support that guy. Quarterback's a tough position to play, we all know that, so any time things get complicated or get tough, we just have to be supportive."
While some players were hearing the news for the first time as practice came to a close on Tuesday, not many of them were surprised that Foles was ultimately Kelly's choice.
"I guess the writing was on the wall," cornerback Cary Williams said. "He's had a tremendous year. He's ascending. You can't take that from him right now. To me, I feel like it's kind of common sense. You look at the production on the field and what he's bringing to the table and you look at how well the team is playing as a (unit). … It's something that you just know. It doesn't have to be spoken."
"(Nick's) doing what he needs to do for us to be successful," said Jackson. "He's making the right reads, he's not turning the ball over, and he's doing everything you would want your quarterback to do. In my eyes, as a wide receiver, he just gives us the best opportunity to win right now.
"As we move forward, hopefully it can stay the same way. That doesn't take anything away from Vick – he's been a top quarterback in this league for a very long time, he's done some great things for our organization as well. Week by week, we'll continue to see how it goes."
While Foles was praised by his teammates for his ability to step in and be a leader in just his second NFL season, Vick was also praised for the humble mindset that he has maintained throughout the entire process. Teammates have noticed the way that Vick has handled himself, leading them to gain even more respect for the quarterback than they'd already had previously.
"(It's great) for him to come with this type of humility and to understand the situation and be a great leader and to understand that it's about the team," said Williams. "It's not about his individual accolades or anything like that. That takes a lot, and I salute him for it."
"I think very highly of Mike and everything that he's done and what he brings as a teammate to this day," explained Celek. "You never know what's going to happen, but we've got to be ready for anything."
