For the first time since suffering a concussion on the final play of the third quarter against Dallas on October 20, Nick Foles was back out on the NovaCare Complex practice fields. The second-year quarterback has passed all of the necessary tests and is anxiously awaiting his first taste of game action, whenever that may be.
"I am (ready)," said a confident Foles after Tuesday's practice. "I cleared everything and I feel good. I felt good out there today. It was a long week last week, but the most important thing was getting healthy. I had a lot of support, and I feel great. It was great to get back out there with the team and I feel like we had a good day today."
Foles' concussion is the second one that he has experienced, with the first coming when he was a freshman at the University of Arizona. According to Foles, concussions are never easy to deal with, but it helps to have a strong group of supporters along the way.
"There were definitely symptoms but I'm healthy now and that's the most important thing. ... It's very tough. There's a lot of adversity, but I've always had my family there. They were great with supporting me. A concussion is not something that you want to go through, but they were great to support me. My teammates were great and the coaching staff was too. A week later I feel great and feel healthy. It was great being back out there and I'm excited to just keep going.
"The first couple of days were tough. A lot of it was resting and coming in here and getting treatment, and then towards the end of the week it started getting better and better. Every day I felt like I excelled and then yesterday I went through all of the tests and was cleared and today felt great out there."
Head coach Chip Kelly and the rest of the Eagles coaching staff will surely be keeping a watchful eye on Foles to see how he responds to being back on the field. According to Foles, the most important thing for him to do now is to stay within himself.
"I just need to show (the coaches) that I have command," Foles explained. "You want to have command of the huddle and command of where you're going with the ball. You want to be assertive with where you're going with the ball. You don't want to have jittery feet. ... You want to be deliberate in your reads and deliberate in your throws and (I need to) really just be myself. I have to go out there and play the game that I know how to play."
