Kolb reiterates desire to start

It's been 23 days since the Eagles' season ended at the hands of the eventual NFC champion Green Bay Packers.

On that Sunday evening at the Linc, Kevin Kolb told reporters that he felt he was ready to start in the NFL.

And three-plus weeks later, that stance has not changed even a little bit.

"My big deal is I just want to start somewhere," Kolb said during an interview with Dan Patrick this morning. "I feel like I'm ready and have confidence that I can do a good job."

Again, that's pretty much exactly what Kolb said after the loss to Green Bay. But how has he communicated that message to Andy Reid?

"I think the best I can do is just put it like I did," Kolb said. "It's not my personality to really be that way, but at the same time, I know, and our organization knows that I'm prepared, I'm ready and I've learned a lot by being a backup. Of course [Michael] Vick and I had a great time this year and [I] got some experience this year. Again, looking forward to doing it for 16, 18 games, whatever it is, and going out and winning a lot of football games."

Kolb said he's met with Reid and told him how he feels, but his future is uncertain in large part to the unsettled CBA.

"I had a meeting with Andy, and told him that I feel like I'm prepared, I'm ready to take that next step. He knows," Kolb said. "And my big deal is, and people may call me crazy, but I trust Andy. He's always done what's best for myself and our team and my career. I really believe that. And I know he'll do the same thing here, regardless of what that may be, whatever he thinks is right. But I'm looking into my fifth year now so it's time. I think I've learned as much as I can possibly learn by sitting on the bench and watching and coming in in relief. I'm ready to just get out there and get in that full mode of being a starter, and the entire offseason, the whole deal. There's gonna be some highs and lows and some bumps. I know that. But I'm ready to iron those out on the field and then keep moving forward and getting better as a football player."

Patrick asked Kolb what Reid said during their meeting.

"He said 'I know you do and you're ready,'" Kolb said "And I just gotta sit down and analyze this whole thing and see where we stand. And he does. I will say that he thinks thoroughly through every situation and everything that might come of his decisions. From what we understand, they haven't got a chance to really sit down and talk about those things with the CBA being the way it is and with new hires and fires going on everywhere, so I believe that. And that's all I can do and move forward and just let everybody know that I feel like I'm ready and looking forward to my opportunity."

Perhaps the most revealing part of the interview was Kolb recounting the Clay Matthews play in Week 1. Looking back, it's remarkable to think of the impact one play can have. Kolb went from the future face of the Eagles' franchise to a backup. Now he might be playing in another city next year.

Vick went from a backup and an unknown to an MVP candidate, and quite possibly the starting quarterback of the Eagles for years to come.

"It was a third-and-long, I believe, and Clay obviously was playing pretty good at that time, and still is obviously," Kolb said, recounting the play. "Anyway, I got out in a little scramble mode and had a chance to dump it down, probably should have. Tried to make something happen, and this guy's so violent and so aggressive. He comes up behind me and he kind of trapped my arm, so I couldn't do much. And I guess he thought he needed to dump me, and first thing that hit was the side of my head, and that's the first time I've ever completely blacked out.

"Kind of said to myself 'Man Did that just happen?' And then when I got to the sideiines, I kind of felt the effects coming on, and like most football players do, tried to hide it, tried to fight through it. Went back out the next play, the next series, right before the two-minute drill and actually forgot the snap count. If you go back on film, you can see me standing, and the ball surprises me. So I think it was [Brent] Celek that walked to the sidelines and told our trainers 'Uh-uh, this isn't good.' And obviously they made a decision to pull me and Vick went in and did his thing."

Kolb's quotes raise some interesting questions. You'll remember at the time, the Eagles came under criticism for putting him back into the game. How effective could the concussion testing on the sidelines have been if the Eagles allowed Kolb to return when he was blacked out and forgot the snap count?

Kolb said he has not replayed that moment in his head. As he's said all along, he believes everything happens for a reason, and he doesn't have a specific time frame on when the Eagles are going to make a decision on his future. Again, that's in large part because the Eagles can't really make a decision on his future with the current CBA situation.

"Obviously, the sooner the better 'cause you can get settled in, you can get your mind set on what you have to do and where you're gonna be," Kolb said. "But I think this year's gonna be crazy for everybody. There's a lot of things that are up in the air so again, we'll be patient and hopefully the sooner the better, something'll get done, if it does get done."

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