Eagles deny Michael Vick conspiracy

Philadelphia Eagles starting quarterback Michael Vick will miss his third-straight game on Sunday because of a concussion, allowing rookie quarterback Nick Foles to make his third start this season. Unfortunately for the Eagles, not everybody is buying that Vick's health is keeping him out of games -- and some believe that the Eagles are intentionally holding Vick back.

On Friday, the Eagles denied the idea that they were intentionally keeping Vick on the bench to let Foles play. CSN Philly's Geoff Mosher has plenty of quotes from Philadelphia's head trainer, Rick Burkholder:

"Listen, there are no conspiracies here," he said. "We don't grade the ImPACT test, which he has not gotten back to baseline [on]. I send that paper from the computer off to the people in Pittsburgh. They come back and say he's not past baseline. That's an NFL rule.

"That has nothing to do with anything with us. He's got to pass that before he can ever entertain the fact of him playing, so I don't know where that came from. As the gatekeeper of these guys, he's not going to play until he gets past baseline and gets through the five phases."

Chicago Bears' quarterback Jay Cutler also suffered a concussion during Week 11, but Cutler returned in Week 13 -- unlike Vick. Cutler's quick return prompted many to wonder whether or not the Eagles were intentionally benching Vick.

Through three games this season, Foles has completed 59-of-99 passes for 542 yards, with one touchdown against three interceptions. Foles has also fumbled three times.