Head coach Andy Reid indicated Monday that Kevin Kolb will likely be under center as the starting quarterback next Sunday when the Eagles travel to Tennessee to take on the Titans. Michael Vick is still working his way back from a rib cartilage injury, and Reid said it "would be a stretch" for Vick to play if he continues to feel like he feels at the moment.
"There's a pretty good chance Kevin's the guy this week," Reid said.
Kolb, meanwhile, has earned the trust of Reid and his teammates with his play over the last two weeks. In that span, Kolb is 44-60 for 579 yards, four touchdowns, one interception and a 73.3 completion percentage.
"Offensively, the obvious is that Kevin played very well at the quarterback position," Reid said in reviewing yesterday's 31-17 win over the Atlanta Falcons. Kolb earned a 133.6 quarterback rating on the day."That's a good day. With all those numbers, I think the thing that he probably did best that doesn't get noticed is the way he managed the game. He got everybody involved."
Reid praised offensive coordinator Marty Mornhinweg's game plan for exploiting the Falcons defense, and also singled out DeSean Jackson, Jeremy Maclin and replacement left tackle King Dunlap for their play.
"My hat goes off to King Dunlap for the job that he did," Reid said. "That's a tough situation he was coming into, after the week at San Francisco where a couple of his plays got magnified. He was able to come back against a power rusher ... a guy with one of the best bull rushes in the National Football League, and King was able to handle that."
Defensively, Reid said that the linebackers played their best game of the season, led by Stewart Bradley in the middle. He noted that defensive end Trent Cole is playing at an extremely high level and that defensive tackle Antonio Dixon did a very good job filling in for defensive tackle Brodrick Bunkley.
In other news, defensive end Victor Abiamiri, who is currently on the Physically Unable to Perform list after off-season microfracture surgery will not practice this week, according to Reid. The Eagles have until Week 9 to either activate Abiamiri or place him on season-ending injured reserve.
"He's making progress, but he's not quite there yet," Reid said of Abiamiri, "but he is upbeat and making progress and that's a plus for that surgery that he had."
But the focus this week will remain on the quarterback position, where the Eagles are afforded an abundance of riches. Reid scoffed when asked if the Eagles would entertain trade offers for either quarterback in the next two days - before the trade deadline - and said the Eagles will move forward with Kolb and Vick. This week, it appears that Kolb will have a chance to continue his hot streak.
-- Posted by Bo Wulf, 12:54 p.m., October 18
