PHILADELPHIA - The Chip Kelly era begins where the Eagles left off under Andy Reid. That is to say Michael Vick is the starting quarterback.
Kelly insisted the decision to put Vick on the field first when the Eagles open the preseason Friday (7:30 p.m., Channel 6, WIP 94.1-FM) against the New England Patriots at Lincoln Financial Field was one of convenience. It doesn't mean Vick is ahead of Nick Foles in the quarterback competition.
"It was Mike's day in the rotation and that was the easiest way for us to do it," said Kelly, who will continue alternating Vick and Foles with the first-team offense. "We'll make sure the rotation works out that Nick will get the start next week. We'll see where those guys are. We feel like we have it balanced out. We met with those guys this morning and they were great with it. So that's kind of our plan going in."
Vick, Foles and the rest of the holdovers from the team that got Reid fired have been given a clean slate by Kelly. The clock is running.
Vick realizes the preseason games veteran quarterbacks generally loathe are his existence.
"I've never been in this situation before in my life," Vick said. "I can't control the future. I can't predict the future. I can just control what I can control. I can't do it all. I can't do everything. But the one thing I can do is have fun."
Echoing his coach, Foles said he and Vick found out about the plan before the final practice with the Patriots Thursday and are "cool with" it. It doesn't concern Foles which quarterback goes first because he believes in his heart he will be the last man standing.
"We're ready to go, ready to go out there and get after it," Foles said. "I've played this game so much that you really don't look into it. When you look into little things like that, it causes your mind to go elsewhere."
Kelly will keep an eye on the play-count to balance the snaps and the quarterback evaluations as much as possible.
"We're going to let the first quarter go and just see where we are," Kelly said. "Hopefully we can get 20 (plays). Between 12 and 20 you're hoping. But we'll see.
"We feel this is the best way to go right now."
Rookie quarterback Matt Barkley will play the second and third quarters. Kelly wants to use Dennis Dixon and G.J. Kinne in the fourth quarter.
Vick says he "relishes the opportunity" to compete for the starting job but isn't going overboard starting the first game.
"I came back for a reason and that was to get better as a football player and to keep thriving and try to become a consistent quarterback in all areas of the game," Vick said. "I'm getting there, you know, but you never know until you're out there full time."
Kelly said free agent Allen Barbre (6-4, 305) would start at left offensive tackle, where Jason Peters has been hampered by a strained hamstring and Dennis Kelly has been shut down after surgery on his back.
Due to injuries, the wide receiver groupings are a work in progress with no guarantee beyond DeSean Jackson starting the contest.
Veteran Jason Avant could be the other wide receiver. Riley Cooper would be in the multi-receiver sets. Damaris Johnson, Greg Salas and rookies Russell Shepard and Ifeanyi Momah will play.
Oh, and get ready to see a lot of tight ends including newcomers James Casey and Zach Ertz and running backs, the latter with Bryce Brown and Chris Polk lining up in the backfield and out wide.
Eagles linebacker Casey Matthews played for Kelly at Oregon. If Eagles fans like change, they'll appreciate the way Kelly operates.
"It's going to be a lot different than last year but I don't know how much he's going to open up the playbook," Matthews said. "I don't think it's going to be too much. I think you're going to see a lot faster tempo. It's going to be a complete change. It's a different looking team."