PHILADELPHIA -- Nick Foles has the Eagles' starting quarterback job back.
At least for one week.
Foles will start against the Raiders (3-4) Sunday in Oakland, two weeks after he suffered a concussion after completing just 11 of 29 passes for 80 yards in a lifeless 17-3 loss to the Cowboys. But the 24-year-old knows he is fighting for the job every time he plays.
The Eagles (3-5), after all, have tried three quarterbacks and coach Chip Kelly is not afraid to shake things up. Michael Vick could come back as the starter, when healthy. And rookie Matt Barkley could make a start at some point, too. So, nothing is a given when it comes to Foles. He has a chance to win a road game this week, and keep Philadelphia hanging around in the NFC East.
After that, who knows?
"I know how confident Nick is in practice," Kelly said. "But practice and games are different things."
A week earlier, Foles was the NFC Offensive Player of the Week for his three-touchdown performance in a 31-20 win over the Buccaneers.
Kelly hasn't said whether Vick will get the job back once he recovers from a nagging hamstring injury, and he won't even speculate about next year, so there's a tremendous amount at stake for the second-year pro out of Arizona every time he steps on the football field.
Philadelphia is just a game behind Dallas (4-4) in the division.
"I focus on the here and now," Foles said after practice Thursday. "I've always believed that if you focus on the here and now and take care of that, the rest of it will take care of itself.
"Obviously, everybody has a goal of what they want to be, but if you put all your focus into that, you forget about the present and you forget about what it takes right this day to play well on Sunday."
And what about the future? What about the chance to win the job permanently?
"I don't worry about it," Foles said. "I approach every day as a gift, and I don't know what tomorrow presents, so I have to give it everything I have today, and I'm OK with that."
Foles on Sunday will try to bounce back from a historically ineffective performance against the Cowboys. His passing total was eighth lowest in the last 50 years by an NFL quarterback throwing at least 29 passes.
"Sometimes that position is a lot like a golfer," Kelly said. "You can go one week and be in contention and you're leading and you have a great round, and the next week the guy doesn't make the cut. What we need out of Nick is consistency, and he understands that."
Foles hopes to focus on fundamentals like setting his feet and following through on his delivery to return to the form that saw him complete 67 percent of his passes with six touchdowns and no interceptions in parts of four games going into the Dallas loss.
"Just rip it," he said. "I know how to throw a football. Sometimes I try to aim it. I know I'm accurate. I just have to naturally let my throwing motion take control."
The Eagles haven't scored an offensive touchdown in the last two games, both losses.
"The big thing for him is let's just get him back in the flow," Kelly said. "Let's get in a rhythm. That's the biggest thing. Can you get in a rhythm, can you get your feet set, can you throw the ball?"
Foles is 2-6 in his career, with both wins coming over the Buccaneers in Tampa. He's thrown 126 consecutive passes without an interception, and he has just two in his last 279 attempts.
