Sanchez gets his shot with Eagles

NICK FOLES won't need surgery for his broken left collarbone, according to multiple reports and to Eagles running back LeSean McCoy, who said so on his 94WIP radio show last night. That almost certainly means Foles suffered a crack, as Eagles coach Chip Kelly indicated earlier yesterday, not a displaced fracture, which could have required the insertion of a plate, according to former Eagles and Flyers team orthopedist Dr. Art Bartolozzi.

ESPN's Adam Schefter was first to report the results of yesterday's tests, which included an MRI. The Eagles offered no update last night. If no surgery is required and an MRI shows no ligament damage around the AC joint, a player can return to action in 6 to 8 weeks, Bartolozzi said.

So that means Mark Sanchez at quarterback for most if not all of the remainder of the regular season, and it would seem to set up more stretch-drive drama, if Sanchez stays healthy and plays well. Foles, who won the starting job a year ago because Michael Vick got injured, now has opened the same door for Sanchez, the former New York Jets starter who turns 28 a week from today.

Yesterday was the anniversary of the seven-touchdown day at Oakland that really got the Foles legend going. With his left arm in a sling, Foles probably didn't do a lot of celebrating.

Sanchez officially arrived as an Eagle at a NovaCare press conference on Friday, March 28. Within a few hours, his introduction had been completely overshadowed by the team's release of wide receiver DeSean Jackson. Sanchez went on to perform well in training camp and in the preseason, but he remained in the shadows; the theme of the summer was that this was Foles' team, in the wake of his Pro Bowl performance in 2013.

But Foles left Sunday's game at Houston at the end of the first quarter, eight snaps after throwing his 10th interception in eight games. Foles, sacked twice in three plays by Texans linebacker Whitney Mercilus, got his left shoulder driven into the ground on the final sack, and was slow to get up. Sanchez came into a 7-7 game and engineered a 31-21 victory in a hostile road environment.

Given Kelly's pragmatic approach to the Vick-Foles situation last year, there would seem to be every chance for Sanchez to win the starting job and a contract beyond this season's 1-year, $2.25 million deal, signed when he was coming off a year lost to shoulder surgery and had become a figure of ridicule in New York. (See "Butt Fumble," Thanksgiving 2012, when Sanchez ran into the rear end of guard Brandon Moore, fumbled, and saw the turnover returned for a touchdown.)

The Eagles might not have had today's exact situation in mind when they aggressively pursued Sanchez in free agency more than 7 months ago, but Kelly made it clear yesterday he has a deep regard for Sanchez, having first seen him when Kelly was recruiting another QB at Sanchez's Mission Viejo (Calif.) High, for the University of New Hampshire. After moving to Oregon, Kelly coached against Sanchez when Sanchez starred for USC.

"I feel great about Mark," Kelly said. "We felt great about him all along. One of the things we wanted to do - I always said we needed two [starting-quality] quarterbacks, and we had a chance to get him in here. I [think] he's done a great job in our system. I thought he played outstanding in the preseason and showed no rust or anything when he got in there against Houston . . . He's a hell of a quarterback and we're excited that we got him."

The day he was introduced, most of the questions for Sanchez had to do with why he would come to a team that had a young starter who'd just made the Pro Bowl.

Sanchez said then that Kelly "really is on the cutting edge of the NFL. He's one of those guys who has a really exciting vision for the future."

Much more exciting, presumably, now that Sanchez has a chance to be a big part of it.

"There are no guarantees" in the NFL, Sanchez said, back in March. "This whole thing's a crapshoot.

"But I'd like to take the best calculated risk I could, and I think this is it."

Kelly said yesterday that he tailors his offense to the strengths of his quarterback, but he also said he doesn't think much will change in the shift from Foles to Sanchez.

"I think he obviously has a big-time arm, an NFL arm, he's got NFL feet," Kelly said. "He's really, really smart. He's sharp. Great work ethic, very athletic, all the things you're looking for in a quarterback."

It was a notable level of enthusiasm for a coach who seldom sounded so bubbly about Foles, even when he was turning the league on its ear.

Matt Barkley will back up Mark Sanchez, and the Eagles presumably will make a roster move to have practice squad QB G.J. Kinne available behind Barkley . . . Chris Prosinski, the 6-1, 208-pound safety the Eagles signed to take DeMeco Ryans' roster spot, was a fourth-round pick of the Jaguars in 2011 . . . Just 24 snaps against Houston for tight end Zach Ertz, in a run-heavy game . . .

With left guard Evan Mathis returning and center Jason Kelce now full-strength, it wouldn't be a shock if right guard Todd Herremans (biceps, ankle) decided he is too banged up to continue. The team, which starts practice tomorrow for Monday's game against the Panthers, needs to make a roster move to officially bring Mathis off IR-designated to return.

Blog: ph.ly/Eagletarian