The Eagles quarterbacks are the talk of the city and rightfully so. You’ve got a full-scale soap opera or reality show playing out right before your eyes and not even the participants know how it”s going to turn out.
On one hand you have former Heisman Trophy winner and number one pick in the draft, Sam Bradford, who throws the football with ease and grace. You stand there and watch. It comes off his hands like a great shooter like Steph Curry shooting the basketball. This is a gift. Each throw is effortless and there’s no question that all the quarterbacks on the field know Bradford has the best arm out there, but he’s still limping around.
They have hope because that brace is bulky and uncomfortable. You see Bradford stop to adjust it from time to time. They all know injuries are part of the game and they may continue to sideline Bradford.
“Yeah, he is on schedule,” Chip Kelly said. “We all think there’s three phases: there’s medical rehab, there is performance rehab, and then there’s prepared to play. He’s probably right at the tail end of medical rehab. He’ll probably start throwing some seven‑on‑seven next week. I think he’s right on schedule in terms of where he is.”
“I think I get more comfortable out here every day. I get more comfortable with my knee and where it’s at every day the more I’m out here,” Bradford said. “Obviously it would be nice to get out there and take some live reps and I think that we’re progressing towards that and I’m sure that once I get out there and take some reps in seven-on-seven and ‘team’ things will really start to come together.”
After practice he was mobbed by media people including myself. He came across with intelligence. There’s a certain confidence there, but not much passion.
Former USC and New York Jets star, Mark Sanchez, who led the Jets to two AFC Championship games, took most of the snaps on Thursday at practice and looked good running the offense. He’s been in the offense for a year now and it shows, plus his arm feels good, now that he’s over a year past a shoulder surgery.
He didn’t have to worry about being mobbed after practice because of the presence of Bradford and Tebow. He wanted to talk about how close they came last year and how good he feels this year. Sanchez has made it a point to let it be known that the picks he threw last year weren’t all his fault. He arm feels much better now and he plans on starting.
“We want everyone to be healthy. But that doesn’t affect how I prepare or how I transition into this next season,” Sanchez said. “All of us come into that quarterback room, walk in the huddle, you act like you’re the starter. That’s the only way I know how to play.”
“As soon as you start thinking or counting reps or [thinking], ‘I wonder if this guy is gonna be healthy,’ then you are already beat, there’s no point in being out here. Yeah, everybody wants to be the starter. I’m no different.”
“Whether I was surprised or not (about the trade), I knew there was going to be competition either way,” Sanchez said. “I had a great relationship with Nick so I expected to compete with him, but when that didn’t happen I knew that Sam was going to be another guy in the quarterback room and all of us are competing to play.”
Chip Kelly has made it clear that there’s competition at every position including the starting quarterback position, yet I believe if Sam Bradford is healthy at the start of season, he’s going to be the starter. Kelly didn’t send Nick Foles and a second round draft pick in 2016 to St. Louis, so that he would be able to bring Bradford in here to be a backup. They’re not paying Bradford $13 million dollars to sit the bench.
At the same time I think Kelly is going to go with the quarterback he believes will give him the best chance to win. I think he believes Bradford is that guy, but Sanchez could still blow him away and Kelly would change his mind.
Last year’s third string quarterback, Barkley, who was a can’t meant prospect at USC after his junior season, is the forgotten man with Bradford and Tebow coming on board. Barkley threw the ball well on Thursday. He was throwing the ball before receivers were coming out of their breaks, which is the way you would like the quarterback to do.
He was interviewed after taking his shower and heading to grab some grub in the Eagles cafeteria. No one approached him when he originally walked off the field because they were too busy mobbing Bradford and Tebow.
Barkley let everybody know he’s not conceding anything to Tebow.
“He’s not taking my reps on the field,” Barkley told NJ.com. “He’s an arm we need for the team, with G.J. (Kinne) making the move to receiver. Tim’s just one of us. He’s trying to make the team just like we all are. It hasn’t effected my approach to how I feel the team thinks of me or how I’m going out to compete every day.”
Tebow started off practice, throwing the ball okay in the individual drills, then he struggled in the 7-on-7 and team drills. He held onto the ball too long and missed some wide open receivers. He seemed to throw the ball best on the move, when he was thinking about his new release techniques. Sanchez and Barkley know this offense very well, while Tebow is trying to learn it while executing the plays, which is a lot to ask.
It’s not a surprise that Tebow looks his best when he is running the zone read option, when he gets the chance roll out with the choice to hand it off, keep it or throw it.
“I think you just go out and you compete and you try to earn whatever you can. It’s just about competing, trying to get better every day and that’s the goal,” Tebow said. “I’ve done some similar stuff in the past. I really enjoy it. It’s an offense that really keeps defenses on their heels in a lot of different ways – with tempo, with formations, playing fast. There’s a lot of different ways that you can take advantage of certain things in this offense.”
He was mobbed after practice despite being the fourth quarterback on the depth chart and he wore a smile throughout the interview. If you just looked at the quarterbacks as they talked, you would have thought Tebow was the starter, rather than the fourth string quarterback.
Could you imagine the quarterback you would have if you were to combine Tebow’s confidence and leadership skills with Bradford’s smart and arm?
