Kevin Kolb Says He's Not Scared, Tommy Kelly Says He Is

Our old pal Kevin Kolb had another rough outing last night going 3-6 for 22 yards and being sacked three times, once for a safety. He obviously hasn't played well, but he is getting pounded thanks to a pretty poor Arizona offensive line.

This led Tommy Kelly, who sacked Kolb for the safety last night, to run off the field yelling, "That boy is scared." He didn't back off that when he spoke after that game.

"He is skittish," Kelly told the Raiders' preseason broadcast team Friday, according to The Associated Press. "Anytime anybody gets close to him he starts looking at the refs. As a defensive lineman you love a quarterback like that. He ain't even trying to look at the routes no more. He is paying attention to us and you ain't going to get nothing done like that."

Understandably, Kolb took offense.

"Scared? Scared of what?" Kolb said, via Darren Urban of AZCardinals.com. "Taking a hit? I have never been afraid of anyone on the field and that will never change. That includes Number 93 (Kelly).

"There's a fine line between holding in the pocket and trying to escape to make a play. Tommy Kelly is too clueless to know the difference. I don't mind people criticizing my play. Don't ever question my toughness."

You can see the plays in question here. There's no doubt that he has very little time to throw, but he does appear to take his eyes off the receivers a bit quick. It would have taken a pretty good effort to get anything out of those two plays, but watching Kolb last night reminded me of pretty much every fear I had of him here. When he's not pressured, he's a very accurate and decisive quarterback. When he is pressured, it all breaks down. His mechanics fall apart, his decision making goes out the window... And really that's the difference between the good QBs in this league and everyone else. If you're good enough to get into this league, you're probably good enough to sit behind a good offensive line and hit open WRs. Its the guys that make plays when everything isn't going perfect that make up the elites in this league.

Whether Kolb is tough enough or not, his play is clearly not earning him the Cardinals' starting QB job and at this point, I don't know that you can find an Eagles fan alive that wouldn't do the deal for Kolb that netted Philadelphia DRC & Vinny Curry again.