Mike Vick to start preseason opener; Nick Foles to start 2nd game

Michael Vick will start in the preseason opener on Friday against the New England Patriots and will split first-team snaps with Nick Foles. They will play the first quarter. Matt Barkley will play the second and third quarters, and Dennis Dixon and G.J. Kinne will play the fourth quarter.

"It was Mike's day in the rotation," coach Chip Kelly said.

He also said this was not based off an evaluation; it was simply Vick's turn to go first. The schedule will work such that it will be Foles' turn in the rotation for the second preseason game, which Kelly said Foles will start.

Neither Vick nor Foles read into the decision as any indicaition of who will ultimately win the job.

"You got to take it for what it's worth and keep moving," Vick said, noting it will be different next week.

Vick, 33, admitted he's never had a preseason in which the stakes were this high.

"I've never been in this situation before," Vick said. "I've been to where I've had to compete for a job coming out of college, but it's never been this severe. I'm just taking it in stride, man. I can just control what I can control. I can't do it all, I can't do everything. But the one thing I can do is have fun."

Foles, who emerged in last year's preseason, said he knew going into training camp that it could be anything and expressed his excitement to watch Vick.

"It was one of those things where, when I was told, it was like, 'Let's go get after it'," Foles said. "Simple as that."