REPORT: Nick Foles Had Fallen out of Favor with Eagles Front Office Prior to Injury
By Somers Price
Nov 2, 2014; Houston, TX, USA; Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Nick Foles (9) runs off the field during the first quarter against the Houston Texans at NRG Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Troy Taormina-USA TODAY Sports
What a difference a year makes for Nick Foles. It was just around this time in 2013 where the young signal-caller out of Arizona, coming off a 7-touchdown performance against the Oakland Raiders, was the toast of the town and, more likely than not, the player to be groomed for the ever-important role of NFL franchise quarterback. A 10-6 record and playoff berth for the Eagles only increased the likelihood that Foles would join the ranks of quarterbacks around the league earning lucrative contracts to play the most important position in sports.
If one had to make an educated guess, Nick Foles will not make another start for the Eagles this season. The clavicle injury suffered Sunday against the Houston Texans is likely to keep him out at least six weeks. If the team is in position for another postseason berth, one has to think that head coach Chip Kelly will opt for consistency both in the locker room and on the field and, as long as he does not perform too poorly, Mark Sanchez will be QB1 leading them towards the NFL’s second season.
Foles’ injury was no fault of his own. The Houston front had taken up residency in the Eagles backfield in the early parts of Sunday’s game and when edge-rusher Whitney Mercilus drove him into the NRG Stadium turf, Foles probably didn’t know what hit him considering how quickly the play happened. As he walked toward the locker room for further examination and the pending bad news, Foles may have been doing so for the last time as an Eagles starting quarterback.
According to a report from NJ.com’s Mark Eckel, the Eagles front office was not thinking too highly of Foles even before Sunday’s game against the Texans. Given the factors that Eckel and his various sources both around the league and within the organization, it’s tough not to see why Foles might not have been their ideal candidate for the type of contracts being handed out to quarterbacks in today’s NFL.
"Foles’ play during the first half of this 2014 season in stark contrast to his Pro Bowl season of 2013 has “soured” some in the organization, including general manager Howie Roseman, according to sources…“I think Howie is looking at quarterbacks,” a league source told NJ.com. “He’s kind of soured on Foles, and I don’t think he’s alone. The organization isn’t sold that he’s the guy going forward.”Keep in mind the people who wanted Foles in that 2012 draft are no longer with the team, one is the head coach of the Kansas City Chiefs and the other is the offensive coordinator for the New York Jets…As previously reported by NJ Advance Media, Roseman and his scouts preferred Michigan State’s Kurt Cousins over Foles during the 2012 draft, but that then head coach Andy Reid, and with the recommendation of offensive coordinator Marty Mornhinweg, insisted on Foles. Cousins went the next day to the Washington Redskins early in the fourth round…“Let’s just say the way things were going, he wasn’t going to get a contract extension that’s for sure,” another source told NJ.com before Foles’ injury. “Now, if he has a big second half, that could change.”"
As noted, the interviews were being conducted before the injury. Eckel goes on to note in his article that, given the severity of the clavicle fracture and the easy-out the Eagles have with Foles contract, it’s quite conceivable that he will not be showing up under center at any point, at least in a meaningful role, with the Eagles beyond 2014. It’s a shame that Foles’ dream season of 2013 has given way to such uncertainty and now injury. The NFL is the ultimate, ‘what have you done for me lately league’ and it appears as if Foles will learn that the hard way. It would be frustrating to see him lose his job due to injury if he was playing at the level he had been in 2013. No matter which way one slices it, however, Foles was underperforming before the injury and it’s tough to tell just how long the Eagles window of success with Chip Kelly at the helm will stay open. From the looks of it, the organization will go to any length to make sure they have the right players