Reid: “When Kevin makes a mistake, he learns from it and he makes progress”

This training camp and season is all about the  head coach Andy Reid, offensive coordinator Marty Mornhinweg and quarterback coach James Urban know that this training camp is about one thing, the progress of new your quarterback Kevin Kolb .

Yes they’re working on the entire team but the success of this season and the growth of this football team all hinges on the development of Kolb.  This isn’t a comfortable situation for the youngster because Kolb is replacing a Pro Bowl quarterback, Donovan McNabb, and his backup is a former Pro Bowl quarterback, Michael Vick.

The bar has been set high for Kolb and he doesn’t have much time to master his craft.

Yesterday Reid talked a play that shows his young quarterback learns from his mistakes. “You saw where [CB] Asante [Samuel] read a play over on the right side; offensive right side”, Reid told reporters. “DeSean had run an eight-yard hitch route and Asante squatted on it, just like we saw the other day. Kevin reared back, he went to throw it and then he held up; he pulled it back. He threw it the other day, came back today and learned from it. Pumped it, checked it down, plus eight. That’s what he’s doing.”

“When Kevin makes a mistake, he learns from it and he makes progress”, Reid told reporters yesterday. “That’s a very important quality to have. The guys that make them over and over and over and over again, those guys can’t play at this level. It doesn’t work for them. He studies it, he sees it, which is important, and then he reacts to it, which is even more important.”

I’ve told you numerous times that Kolb will have to stay away from interceptions, if he’s going to achieve success in the Natioanl Football League.  That will mean learning from his mistakes and not repeating mistakes time after time.  Reid his young quarterback has that quality.

As training camp has been advancing, Kolb is pulling the ball down and refusing to make the foolish throw in practice, but will he be able to resist making that throw if the offense is stalling and they’re in desperate need of a big play.  It’s tougher to avoid the mistakes during a game but resisting it in practice is a step in the right direction.

This all points at the fact that Kolb needs to get the chance to play in meaningful games and learn from the experience.  You can’t put too much importance on Kolb getting playing time.

“Now it’s just a matter of it’s time to go play”, Reid explained. “Is it going to be perfect? No. That’s not what it’s going to be. He’s going to have highs and lows and he’s just got to be consistent and work through them and stay confident, and he’ll do that. He’s a young quarterback that has an opportunity to start. Like I’ve said before, he doesn’t have to compare himself to anybody or try to do anything that he can’t do. He just needs to be himself and execute the offense and I think he’s very capable of doing that.”

Yes, Kolb won’t be forced to compare himself to anybody but his every movement is going to be compared to McNabb.  Fans are going to expect Kolb to win and win immediately, and they’re going to compare Kolb’s success to McNabb.  If he stumbles out of the gate, you’re going to soon start hearing talk about Vick.

He must ignore the noise and focus on doing his job.  This will be quite a challenge for the youngster.