The Philadelphia Eagles will start Nick Foles at quarterback on Thursday for their season opener against the Atlanta Falcons, the NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport tweeted on Saturday.

He cited sources for his report.

While Carson Wentz “has done fantastic” in rehab for the torn ACL and LCL he suffered in his left knee against the Rams in December, Rapoport wrote that starting Foles at least for Week 1 “is a long-term decision for the face of the franchise.”

Wentz did not take any snaps during the Eagles’ preseason games and has not yet been cleared for contact.

‘Common sense should take over the day’

The timeframe for an ACL return has gotten down to about nine months for many players; we aren’t quite at nine months for Wentz. Plus, Wentz damaging his LCL as well complicated things.

John Clark of NBC Philadelphia spoke to Dr. Jim Bradley, the Pittsburgh orthopedic surgeon who performed Wentz’s surgery, and Bradley believes “common sense should take over the day” when it comes to Wentz’s comeback.

“It should be a cautious approach,” Bradley said. “What’s a few games over 12 to 15 years.”

Bradley noted that the longer the wait to bring Wentz back, the chance of a re-repture goes down. Wentz is “definitely ahead” of where he should be and has met every milestone, but believes the 25-year-old should get as many repetitions avoiding rushers as possible so everything slows down for him and that his “ligaments, tendons and muscles need to learn to work again like a symphony.”

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