The Eagles returned to practice on Thursday and Nick Foles spoke to the media in the afternoon. He talked about his mental preparation and how it’s evolved as he’s matured and learned more about how to focus in on one thing at a time in order to prevent getting overwhelmed.

The quarterback also talked about what it’s meant to him to not only be drafted by the Eagles and begin his career in Philadelphia, but how fortunate he feels to have been able to return years later.

His press conference opened with a question about whether he’s thought about his impact on the Philadelphia sports community. Foles said that he doesn’t, but rather just thinks about what the city means to him and his family, and that a lot of it won’t even be realized until further down the road when he’s able to look back and reflect.

Foles continued to talk about how the city has always welcomed him, even back as a rookie, and having the opportunity to play in Philly again, noting it doesn’t happen very often that quarterbacks return to a previous team. He talked about how important it was for him to raise his young daughter in the city, and how she’s a NorthEastern girl.

Later on, he was asked if his feelings toward the city had always been there, or was a recent development after the Super Bowl, and he said that it’s always been there. Foles talked about his first three years there, marrying his wife and being involved in such an amazing franchise and fanbase.

He then said that when he wasn’t with the Eagles and people would ask him where his favorite place to play was, he always answered, “running out of the tunnel at The Linc, there’s nothing like it,” and at that time he thought the only way he’d return was as a visitor.

“I never thought in my wildest dreams that I’d be able to put back on the jersey and run through the tunnel at The Linc.”

Foles said everything from playing for the city and in The Linc, to enjoying the restaurants and even the zoo, it’s all been special.

On his mental preparation

Foles talked about how he still has moments of weakness, but that works on taking things one moment, one play at a time. It’s focusing on these routines that has allowed him to feel peace during what should have been incredibly stressful situations — like in the Super Bowl.

He talked about the importance of communicating with the coaching staff and making sure that he feels comfortable enough within the game plan to just read and react and not to put a lot of extra pressure on the situation.

Foles admitted he struggles sometimes with keeping his focus on one thing at a time, but that some of those moments have been such learning opportunities, he feels much more comfortable having those life experiences and handling the emotions.

The quarterback talked about how each week, they can talk about preparation and execution, but when adversity happens — and it’s going to, said Foles — it’s the brotherhood among the guys that will push the team into victory. He drew from Sunday’s win over the Texans, saying that they didn’t play their cleanest ball, but were able to bounce back and weren’t afraid to make mistakes, and played for each other.