Reid's 'Crucify' Concern Makes Sense
The Philadelphia Daily News - Eagletarian
Reid's 'Crucify' Concern Makes Sense
Les Bowen, Daily News Staff Writer
As The Idle Rich pointed out today, Andy Reid provided a much more illuminating explanation of the quarterback switch to Sports Illustrated's Peter King than the one he has given us locals.
This here Internet thing has been really popular for more than 15 years now, and people often still don't grasp that just because you said something to somebody somewhere else, that doesn't mean people here won't find out.
"A young quarterback needs time to mature as he grows in the game," King quoted Reid as saying. "I don't think Kolb has lost one thing. He's a franchise quarterback. He will win games, and championships, for the Eagles. But I think it's a different deal when you go out there and can't make a mistake or you're going to get crucified, which is the way this thing might have gone if he went back in there now.''
To review: Reid has told us locals, repeatedly, that the move had nothing to do with Kolb or an offensive line that has given up an NFL-high 11 sacks and 19 quarterback hits through two games, he has said it is about Vick and his amazing, stunning play in six quarters since Kolb suffered a concussion in the opener.
But with King, Reid is acknowledging the only scenario that really makes sense to people who have followed the careful grooming of Kolb as Donovan McNabb's successor -- Andy sees Kevin so far struggling behind an unpredictable offensive line, and he's thinking that if the whole year is like that, Kolb will be labeled a bust and the whole rebuilding program becomes a disaster.
But if Andy yanks him now -- puts the focus on himself as "the bad guy," as he said on Wednesday -- then Kolb is the guy who never got a chance. And the Eagles might be able to eke out more wins with Vick this season, before he moves on in free agency, and Reid rebuilds the o-line (again) for 2011, or whenever football resumes.
As fortune would have it, Reid was scheduled to speak to the local media once again today, so your Eagletarian led off with a question about the "crucified" quote. Reid first denied saying it, then said he needed to see what King had written before he could comment. Then he announced it was time to move on.
Later, an Eagles spokesman said that after the presser, Reid read King's piece and agreed he said what was written. But he didn't want to explain what he meant.
King told your Eagletarian this afternoon that Reid did not mention the offensive line in their conversation. He said the clear sense was that Reid "believes Kolb is going to be the Eagles' quarterback someday," but that for some reason, Andy has changed his mind about this being the day.
***
Moving on, as Andy decreed, right guard Nick Cole missed practice with that knee soreness that has been bothering him forever, and Reggie Wells took all the reps, but Reid said Cole remains the starter "right now." Uh, oh, Nick, better talk to Kevin about this.
Get em Les...
"You got a problem Les"— keepitreal1234- Good job, Les. I still find it hard to believe that the offensive line was not addressed on draft day.
- Good job, Les. I still find it hard to believe that the offensive line was not addressed on draft day.
- just play football!— osi is hurt boohoo
stop treating kolb like a little girl. either he can play the position or not. geez, im starting to think dude is soft. its philly, no matter what, you will be "crucified" if you arent playing well. i have nothing against kolb, but all these excuses for him are starting to make me think that he cant handle being a philadelphia qb.- and btw, this is kolb's 4th year. eli, ben, and brady won by their 4th year.ryan in atl is in his 3rd year yet we consider him a vet. why do people keep saying that kolb is young. oh, more excuses for him. i get it. i'm actually starting to feel bad for the kid. take the kiddie gloves of, this is a mans game
- les,this is the beginning of the end for BIG RED he's clashing with the front office,BIG RED knows conVick has a better chance of going to Jail then he has going to the SuperBowl..BIG RED wanted to build the team and that takes time with a young franchise QB,,troy aikman was 1-15 in his first full season with a 100 sacks,the time is now to play kevin kolb.....wolf.
— wolf 4 
Comment removed.- After the strike/lockout next year and CHEESEBURGER is gone maybe the upstair RATS can hire 2ond place finisher in father of the year(DUNGEY) to come coach our felon QB.— jwatson
- This is all about "Nickles" Banner telling Reid to make the switch, nothing more. Reid's days are numbered as our 5 cent team president slowly goes through the coaching staff/front office and replaces football people with salary cap/geeky/stat/bean counter types. How do I know that Reid is gone? Why, just listen to Howard Eskin, who resides up inside Banner's b*tt! Whenever an Eagle player or someone else is on the way out, all of a sudden, there's Eskin criticizing him on air. Happened with McNabb, and other players, and now it's happening to Reid. Look at where the strings that control Eskin originate from, and you will find Joe Banner.— mjc1
- reid is right.. if kolb were to be reinserted into the starting lineup and were to perform below average and go through the "growing pains" of a first year starter, people would be calling for his head because of what mike vick has shown. it just wouldnt be a good situation.— tboneee
- Well Reid has done such an amazing job with Donovan, of course he's right. Look at all of those Super Bowl rings, The Gold Standard. You know, like the ones Big Ben, Tom Brady, Ray Lewis, Kurt Warner, and Randy Moss have?— MichaelZoe
- Well Reid has done such an amazing job with Donovan, of course he's right. Look at all of those Super Bowl rings, The Gold Standard. You know, like the ones Big Ben, Tom Brady, Ray Lewis, Kurt Warner, and Randy Moss have?— MichaelZoe
- Let me get this stra.................aaagh..I just threw up in my mouth!!! ENOUGH WITH THE: POOR POOR KEVIE!!!!— sikofit
- Why does anyone bother to interview Andy Reid? Its a total waste of time.— Boru
- Crotchety...I agree..and Mickey, Randy never won a bowl...the reality is this...with Vick our explosive offense is back...without him, I would not be....case closed...and Reid was right...The Kid Kolb, everyone's savior, would have been crucified...nuff said
- "Reid first denied saying it, then said he needed to see what King had written before he could comment. Then he announced it was time to move on."
That's funny. Reid is so disdainful of the press, I'm surprised reporters don't fire back at him. That would be entertaining. I respect the fact that a head coach doesn't have to tell us everything, but he shouldn't be playing games with the press/fans either. If Reid doesn't care, then he won't mind reporters expressing a little disgust at the press conferences.
— p-diddy - Media should boycott all of his press conferences. Waste of time trying to get anything intelligent or insightful out of the slab of beef. Change the channel any time he comes on.
- Comment removed.
- If you really think this through ... Reid is actually throwing Vick to the wolves. He knows Mike can run for his life behind this high school O-line and make some things happen w/ his athleticism. Get the feeling that Reid is using Vick to save his (Reid's) own skin because Andy has done an incredibly poor job rebuilding this team. Just look at Reid's personnel decisions the last few years: mostly busts (Andrews brothers, canning Westbrook, Dawk, etc) leaving Lurie to hold the money bag for expensive free agents who can't play.— misterhman
- Let your eyes do your talking for you. Not the media— sikofit
- Reid had to hide all of this because the fans are morons. It is exactly true that Kolb would be labeled a bust by the fans because the offensive line (and defense) stinks. Always the QB's fault.— bobbyd24
- Philly-sophical: I was thinking the same thing. Just as Andy takes his seat and after he does his little injury recap, and says, "Time's yours," all the media people in the room get up in unison and WALK OUT.— misterhman
For the love of god, can this get any more confusing...oh wait, don't answer that...- bobbyd24 is right. The NFL is a quarterback's league. If you win, quarterback receives the glory and if you lose, and especially in this town, you are at going to be the source of blame no matter how bad the rest of your team played. Look at the last year's starter, who orchestrated the most points in franchise history, with less talent and a worse defense. And about the defense, it truly is McDermott's first year where he could put the players he wants in place. It takes TIME for a new team to develop into championship caliber team but we have the talent at all the skill positions. Big Red 2.0 is only in it's early stages of production, let's see what the finished product turns out to be— eaglegreen22
- Andy the Spin Docter. Nothing said...nothing gained.— dri_as_a_bone
- I love it how the Philadelphia media is brewing over the fact that they got outscooped by Peter King. If the Philadelphia media ever lightened up just a little bit, and stopped being so incredibly negative and critical, maybe Reid could talk to you candidly.— PhillyfaninChicago
- what did AR have to hide that we didn't already know.— sikofit
- bobbyd24: are you Les?— sikofit
- MJC1agree. Uncle Joe the worst thing to happen to Eagles football since Norman Braman. He is trying to drive Andy out. So finally, the only way to do it is jettison #5. Banner and his twin rat, Howie, are not football guys. Andy is.If Andy wins with Vick, not sure Uncle Joe won't decide to take the bridge. Bad for real Eagles fans but AR will get a job, after running this circus for 12 years everything else a piece of cake. A less stubborn man would have quit. Cleveland you will be getting a good coach soon.— oldBird
- Shouldn't the term 'dumb fan' be labeled an oxy-moron.— sikofit
- WAH WAH WAH! Give BABYARM A chance! WAH WAH WAH! He only played 2 quarters! WAH WAH WAH!— BooDuhBud
- im beginning to think reid doesnt like you les— djack10
Here you go....
http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/columns/story?columnist=schefter_adam&page=10spot/10week03
Yep.— elijah29- I'm wondering if Andy found some leftover stash of his kid's beacause he has certainly been out there as of late. HOw is any Eagle going to believe anything he says from this point? This week would have been perfect to start Kolb. It's an away game against a bad opponent who does not rush the passer well at all. Would have been the chance to see how the kid does, but I'm afraid Reid is worrying about the Skins' game. Even if Kolb played well against the Jags, if he was mediocre or worse against the Skins, Reid is afraid he'll never hear the end of it. I never really liked Reid, even more when he was stubborn as hell. Now that he's gone all wishy washy, it's a real embarassment. He should have just come out before the first game and said Vick won the job, but now he's messed with Kolb's head, cast doubt throughout the team, and will be scrambling to start all over again next year after an 8-8 season, which he would have with or without Kolb or McNabb.— mike l
- Gonna try something new in this town for the fans and writers here...HONESTY. Haven't been an Eagles fan all of my life...pulled for McNabb and Vick is my favorite QB..You fans here THE WORST FANS I've ever seen. Reid was correct...Kolb would have been crucified. The thing is, to his detriment, Vick has been to the bottom. Never under estimate a man with something to prove. Vick flat out out played Kolb, and it wasn't even an opne competition, Kolb is supposed starting as we speak..lol— elijah29
- Maybe Reid is on to something. After a couple of games with mounting turnovers, losses, some unsportsmanlike conduct penalties, and maybe the fans being flipped the bird, people will be a lot more cognizant of the need to give Kolb the chance to work out the kinks if necessary. Because Vick is Vick, which is all fun and games to the 17 people in America who are in the Vick cult, but he isn't going to be winning any championships, which should be Reid's goal.— jtj06
- the quarterback who in the estimation of his coach needs to be coddled from the wrath of the public and sheltered from the stress of having to come up in the clutch when things do not go exactly right in the running game or offensive line is going to win ..... championships!!!??? ha ha ha ha ha cough snort giggle— barrywil
Hey, you people who think Eagles fans are all negative and nasty, I ask you: Where are the championships the Gold Standard folks promised? Oh, there aren't any? But management continues to charge megabucks for seat licenses and season tickets? And to behave like arrogant know-it-alls to boot? Yes and yes. Maybe that's why the fans and sportswriters are a tad negative. Peter King doesn't care whether the Eagles ever win a championship. Philly fans do.- Comment removed.
- @osi is hurt boohoo - thank you!— what_the_hell
- Big Red has played the philly media like a fiddle for over a decade now. I'm sure that's frustrating to some of the New York wanna be reporters.— R3
- I wish you people would stop getting on Vick. He did the crime , got caught , did his time. All you Kolb lovers face the facts you would be turning on him in a heartbeat. This team can win now, if Kolb was so good he would have made the adjustments, the sack that caused the concussion could have been prevented if he would have thrown the ball away, which he had plenty of time to do. At best he is an average QB, stop blaming the O-line, there are a lot of new faces in there this year and jackson is out for the year.— gwilli1234
