Andy Reid spent the first portion of his Wednesday press conference fielding questions about his own quarterbacks (Vick is feeling better, Foles is working hard!), but eventually the topic turned the signal caller the Eagles will face this weekend, Redskins rookie Robert Griffin III.
Reid praised him as a "heck of a player" and says that the familiarity with the current scheme the Redskins have used has eased his transition into the NFL.
"They run some of the things that he ran at Baylor, which I think is smart. Bringing a rookie in to start, you bring in some things that he is familiar with," Reid said. "He does that very well. You have the option game and the run game that you have to deal with. They are one of the top run teams in the NFL right now. They have a good, young running back and a good quarterback. Their offensive line is playing well."
Of course, he was also asked about RG3's comments that the Eagles were "very interested" in him prior to the draft.
"I love talking to all those quarterbacks, and he was one of them. We weren't in a position where we were going to be picking him, but I wanted to see what he was all about. I liked what I saw, yeah."
And frankly, since everyone and their mom knew the Redskins were taking him why not take a free chance to see what the kid is about?
Reid says that overall we're seeing so many more young QBs having early success because the passing game at the college level has developed so much.
"It's as simple as the offenses in college now are geared to throwing. These kids are coming out and they've seen the blitzes, they've thrown the football. They've done it in short-yardage situations, in long-yardage situations and everything in between. I think that pays off for them once they get to this [level]. Even though it's a little different offense, they have confidence in themselves throwing the football and they can see. They can see the safeties and corners where they're at."
The Eagles will be starting their own rookie QB this weekend in Nick Foles. After and up and down performance coming off the bench vs Dallas, Foles gets a full week here to prepare as a starter. He says he'll be incorporating some lessons learned from last week.
"I learned a lot," Foles told reporters today. "Things happen when you least expect it. You can't turn over the ball in this league. We had two costly turnovers, and you can't do that. Just play fast and play within myself. We have a lot of great guys on this team and great coaches. We just have to continue to stick together. These have been trying times, and everyone has stuck together. Just stick together, work together, and play as hard as we can for one another."
As far as rattling off football cliches, Foles is already like a season vet.