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Last season, the Eagles offense changed when Foles replaced the more mobile Michael Vick at quarterback. There will be similar, if less dramatic, changes with Sanchez playing anywhere from four to eight games.
"I've said that since Day 1," Kelly said. "Our offense is directed around our quarterback. So tell me who is playing quarterback, and I'll tell you what our offense is going to be and how it's going to look because we can always cater it to the skills of our offense. That's the beauty of what we're doing here."
Sheridan went on to explain that Kelly also adjusts his offense to attack an opposing defense where it is vulnerable. So it's not entirely clear how the offense changed specifically because of the change in quarterbacks. Kelly was aware the Houston Texans lost both starting cornerbacks to injuries, and he looked for ways to take advantage of that development.
Foles' 59-yard touchdown throw to Jeremy Maclin was an example of Kelly exploiting that weakness.
But it seems clear Kelly intended to throw the ball a lot. In the first quarter, Foles dropped back to pass 16 times. LeSean McCoy had only three carries while Foles was playing quarterback. In three quarters, Sanchez dropped back to throw 26 times, and McCoy and the other running backs carried the ball 31 times in the final three quarters.
Kelly ran the ball more after Sanchez came in. Is that an adjustment based on the quarterback or the way the Texans defense wore down? That will become clearer as Sanchez plays more.
"We didn't do anything differently [as far as blocking]," Kelly said. "I just think they wore down as the game went along. They came out with a lot of energy and juice early. I think kind of the cumulative effect of a lot of those drives -- I think the key was that we stayed on the field on third down. ... I think it was our offense's ability to stay on the field on third down, which continues the drive, which now wears those guys [the Texans] down a little bit."
The more balanced attack certainly helped take pressure off Sanchez. But then, Sanchez moves a bit better than Foles, both within the pocket and when he takes off. Kelly acknowledged there are things Sanchez likes better and is more comfortable doing.
"I think Mark's got a real strength in that he's a really good communicator," Kelly said. "You can get a good feel of what he likes and what he doesn't like when we're going over things on a weekly basis. I've got a good feel for Mark.
"I mean, we're not going to start running speed-option. We're going to run our offense the way we run it. I think there may be a throw here that he likes better. ... Little things like that. But we won't drastically change anything if he's in there."
As for Monday night. ... With center Jason Kelce back in the lineup last week, the Eagles got back to running the ball. They ran the ball 40 times for 190 yards in their 31-21 win over Houston. They will lean on the run again Monday night against a Carolina team that has allowed 4.8 yards per carry.
As the Sports Xchange notes, McCoy has rushed for 100-plus yards in two of the past three games. Luke Kuechly, one of the league's top inside linebackers, always is around the ball, but the Panthers have allowed 4.8 yards per carry.
That said, Maclin is on fire. He has 18 catches and four touchdowns in the past two games and Josh Norman and Antoine Cason are average corners. So there will be shots downfield.