Today Andy Reid met the media for his final press conference of the 09/10 season. He talked about players, the season, front office changes... but the question everyone wants to hear is of course, "Who will be the starting quarterback next year?"
"I was asked if Donovan would be my quarterback next year and I said yes. That's what I'm saying now. That's my call."
He was then asked if he thinks the questions about McNabb's future are warranted
"I don't know what the questions were other than the questions I was asked in here. I haven't heard any other question. I was asked if he will be the quarterback of this team. I said yes and that's how I feel. I'm not out to analyze anything else. I was asked if it was my decision. It's my decision so that's what it is."
He didn't seem very ambiguous in his answer. At least for now it appears that Donovan McNabb will be the starter next year, which is the final year of his contract. That said, it's not like he was going to say McNabb won't be here even if that's what he thinks...
More after the jump including thoughts on Sean McDermott, Kevin Kolb, Mike Vick, Tom Heckert, and the offensive line.
On Sean McDermott
"I thought that guy, my hat is off to him. That's a tough thing that he did. He's not into excuses. I'm not into excuses, but just looking at it realistically. To replace a legend in Jim Johnson at the time that it took place with a very limited offseason and doing what he wanted to establish in his way, and then with some of the coaching changes and new staff members and then with the players, some of the injuries that they had there. I just thought that he handled that whole thing so well and gracefully."
On the offensive line
"We'll see what time deals us here with the offensive line. We took a little bit of a hit when (C) Jamaal (Jackson) went down. Obviously, that's a bit of a security blanket for your quarterback when they work so close together. I thought (C/G) Nick (Cole) stepped in and did a decent job. We have people. You'd like to keep the continuity there. I think we've had a little bit better continuity there over the last five years or so than what we ended up with this year. With letting (T) Tra (Thomas) and (T Jon) Runyan go and in replacing them, we had a challenge there to develop that and with the injuries it probably didn't develop to where I wanted it to, or (offensive line coach) Juan (Castillo) wanted to. We'll take care of that. The lines are always priorities for us. I'll make sure that we get that taken care of. These aren't excuses. You asked me a question. I don't want this to be (an excuse). We have plenty of good players and good coaches where we should have gotten this thing done the last two weeks and we didn't do it."
How does he feel about Michael Vick wanting to be a starter?
"I love that about him. That kid, the changes that he made this year in his life, I was impressed with. His desire to be a number one guy in this league, I'd be disappointed if he didn't feel that way. He's a competitive son of a gun and he wants to be out there, but at the same time he's handled himself very well. I think he appreciated being here and the opportunity of being here. I respect that and I'm aware of how he feels on that. I would be shocked if he didn't feel that way."
Can Kevin Kolb be a starting quarterback?
"I am very fortunate because there are a lot of head coaches who aren't getting these questions right here, in a serious way, that are really looking for good quarterbacks and I've got stinking three good quarterbacks that could play in this league. I respect that and feel very fortunate to be in that position. I don't want to give up any of them. I like them all. The more you have the better you are. That's a tough position to play. To answer your question, can Kevin Kolb play in the National Football League? Absolutely. Can he be a starter in the National Football League? Absolutely. The other two guys have proven it and they've been top quarterbacks in this league for a number of years."