After watching the painful tape of Sunday's loss to the Saints, Eagles coach Andy Reid decided Kevin Kolb's performance in his first start as an NFL quarterback was even better than he first thought."I thought he did some good things," Reid said Monday. "Can he learn from the interception on the second series of the second half? Yeah, he'll learn on that. But I thought overall he did a pretty good job, after having an opportunity to evaluate it."
Which is good news at a time when the Eagles are desperate for some. If anything positive came out of the penalty-speckled egg Reid's team laid in its home opener, it was the discovery that Kolb, who threw for 391 yards, looks capable of handling starting QB duties in a pinch. Reid said that Kolb would start again this week if Donovan McNabb's broken rib keeps him on the sidelines for a second straight game, and with fresh concerns continually cropping up on defense, at running back and on the offensive line it's nice to feel like something's settled. But if quarterback feels settled in Philly, don't be fooled. There's a big pile of reasons that's not likely to last.
The Eagles' QB situation may be the most bizarre of any in the league. Start with McNabb, a perennial magnet for criticism and job-loss speculation in spite of his immense talent and strong record of success. He asked for a contract extension last winter. The Eagles didn't give it to him, but they did raise his salary, draft him a running back and a receiver and rebuild his offensive line. (Well, they tried to rebuild the line ...) McNabb entered the season facing perhaps the highest expectations of his career ... and he got hurt in the first game. Now he's out, and nobody knows (a) for how long or (b) how good he'll be when he comes back.
So for now the job falls to Kolb, but it's far from that simple.
There is Michael Vick, eligible to play this week with his suspension lifted. He's all but certain to be active for the game as the backup quarterback, since the Eagles seem determined to run a bunch of goofy wildcat plays every game and he's perfectly suited to run them. Reid said he'd be comfortable in Vick's decision-making abilities if he had to play quarterback, though that still seems a ways off.
"Is he 100 percent back and ready to play a whole game? I couldn't tell you that," Reid said. "I don't think so, and I don't plan on putting him in that position right now."
There is Jeff Garcia, the former Eagle who did great things in Philly as a McNabb fill-in once before. Signed last week to add "depth" at the position, Garcia spoke convincingly Sunday about wanting to mentor and help Kolb. But Garcia's history suggests that he's not going to be happy riding the bench. If McNabb is out for a while, Garcia's probably going to think he's the best guy to play in his stead. Even if he was saying all the right things after Sunday's game.
"I'm here to try and help him in whatever way I can," Garcia said. "Just trying to keep him relaxed, keep him composed, keep him positive."Garcia either failed or declined to fill that role this summer while in training camp with the Raiders and JaMarcus Russell, but he called that "a different situation," and spoke Sunday about being a sounding board for Kolb when the latter came off the field and wanted to talk about something.
"He battled through a difficult situation," Garcia said of Kolb's first day.
But it's not likely to get less complicated anytime soon. There is the matter of this wildcat, or "Wild Eagle," as they're calling it in Philly. The Eagles ran it 12 times Sunday, snapping the ball directly to running back Brian Westbrook or receivers DeSean Jackson or Jeremy Maclin. Reid raved about the success the trick formation had, pointing out that they averaged 5.7 yards on wildcat plays and got first downs on five of them, and said they'd keep doing it. As long as that keeps up, it's not going to h elp Kolb, McNabb or whoever's playing quarterback get into any kind of comfortable rhythm.
Oh, and Westbrook hurt his ankle Sunday and might not be ready for Week 3. And the offensive line is a shredded disaster. And the defense and special teams aren't helping out with field position ...
Get the picture? The Eagles may feel like they have some stability at the quarterback spot right now. But that may be just because of how chaotic everything else is around them.
