The team announced the information via their Twitter account Tuesday. The page read, “Head Coach Chip Kelly: Michael Vick is the starting quarterback for the #Eagle.”
“They both played at a high level,” Kelly said. “I just think that Mike played at a higher level.”
“We’ve evaluated the situation and Michael Vick is going to start for us against the Washington Redskins,” Kelly said. “He’ll get the predominant amount of reps today in practice and he’ll play, hopefully, our plan is for him to play two quarters in Jacksonville.”
Vick has had a great preseason in first-year coach Kelly’s offense. In the two preseason games, Vick is 13-for-15 for 199 yards with one touchdown, a passer rating of 113.2 and one interception. The interception came in a Hail Mary play at the end of halftime that was more a desperation play than a mistake on Vick’s part. Vick also played well against the New England Patriots last week, where he was 9-for-10 for 105 yards.
Kelly said it is now time for him and his staff to focus their offensive plan around Vick for the opening game.
“What we do is dependent on who the quarterback is,” Kelly said. “Part of getting a guy in place a couple weeks before the first game is finding out what he’s real comfortable doing and really getting some feedback from him. Maybe in some situations the quarterbacks aren’t going to tell you what they like and don’t like when there is an evaluation going on. They may think the evaluation is part of them liking or not liking something.
“We need to put the best game plan together when we play the Redskins.”
The Philadelphia Eagles open their season Sept. 9 against the Washington Redskins.
