Posts Tagged ‘eagles’

Superman. The Wildcat Originator. Michael Vick has the nicknames ready. All he needs is a chance to play.

After spending 18 months in federal prison and sitting out the first two games as the final league penalty for his role in a dogfighting ring, Vick is eligible to play his first regular-season game in 33 months when the Philadelphia Eagles host the Kansas City Chiefs on Sunday.

The three-time Pro Bowl quarterback was so excited Wednesday he ran full speed in the morning walkthrough.

“I’ve been watching football from afar the last two years and this is a dream come true to me,” Vick said.

His role is uncertain because the Eagles have a complicated situation at quarterback. Donovan McNabb did not practice Wednesday because of a broken rib that forced him to miss last Sunday’s 48-22 loss to New Orleans.

Kevin Kolb would make his second straight start if McNabb, injured in the season opener at Carolina, can’t play against the Chiefs. Kolb made his first NFL start against the Saints, throwing for 391 yards, two touchdowns and three interceptions.

Coach Andy Reid isn’t sure whether Vick or Jeff Garcia would be the backup quarterback. Reid wouldn’t even say that Vick is definitely playing against Kansas City. Vick said he will be in uniform, so that means he’ll at least serve as the No. 3 QB.

“One thing we do know is I’m going to be dressed up, so that’s a great opportunity,” Vick said. “This is Andy’s team. He’s a smart guy. He knows what to do and when he comes up with the game plan. If it doesn’t include me, I’m cool. But, I will make sure that mentally I’m aware of what’s going on and I’m ready in case something happens. You never know what can happen.”

When he plays, Vick is expected to run Philadelphia’s version of the wildcat offense. The Eagles used that formation nine times against the Saints with three different players taking snaps. Wide receivers DeSean Jackson and Jeremy Maclin and running back Brian Westbrook took turns handling the ball. Westbrook even threw an incomplete pass to Leonard Weaver at the goal line.

Vick is quite familiar with a nontraditional offensive style. During his six seasons with the Atlanta Falcons, he was more known for his running ability than his passing skills. He holds several rushing records for QBs, including most yards in a season (1,039) and most career 100-yard games (eight).

“I was the Wildcat originator, so it’s not foreign territory to me,” Vick said. “It’s just about making the right decisions and just playing football. It’s almost like backyard ball, but it’s become quite immense in this league now. Everybody’s doing it, so I’m excited about my role.”

Considering everything that he’s been through since he last played a meaningful game — also at Lincoln Financial Field on Dec. 31, 2006 — Vick feels his career has been rejuvenated. He certainly doesn’t take anything for granted anymore.

“My appreciation for the game has changed tremendously,” Vick said. “I feel like I missed a lot of football. Me coming into a different system, a system I’m pretty familiar with but a lot of different concepts, I sit back and study harder, I try to watch more film and do all the things that are going to help me once I step out on the football field. I have different work habits now. I get up and I’m here by 7:15 in the morning and I’m working out.”

Eagles quarterback Donovan McNabb has a fractured rib on his lower left side, coach Andy Reid said Sunday afternoon.

It is unknown how long McNabb will be sidelined, but Reid said “there’s a chance,” he would play next week against the New Orleans Saints.

McNabb will be examined further on Monday after the team returns to Philadelphia.

McNabb scored on a 3-yard run in the third quarter to give the Eagles a 38-10 lead. He didn’t immediately get up after the touchdown, and was attended to by Eagles trainers before eventually leaving the field on his own.

While he was on the ground, quarterback Michael Vick was captured on TV standing in a stadium suite to watch McNabb. Vick is suspended for the first two regular season games to complete penalties for bankrolling a dogfighting ring.

Michael Vick may learn about his potential full-time reinstatement to the NFL soon.

ESPN reported that commissioner Roger Goodell could rule by Saturday on whether Vick can begin playing in regular-season games. Saturday is the day teams must trim their rosters to 53.

NBC analyst Tony Dungy, who served as Vick’s mentor after he left jail in July, seconded those comments today. “I do think the commissioner is going to rule fairly soon and wants to give the Eagles an idea of what’s going to happen,” Dungy said. “Let Michael know when he can expect to play.”

EAGLES CONTROVERSY? Reid says Vick ‘not looking to dethrone Donovan McNabb’

Goodell, who conditionally reinstated Vick in July after his sentence for a federal dogfighting conviction ended, said on Tuesday he has been speaking regularly with the Eagles quarterback.

“A lot of those issues I’m focusing on are off the field,” Goodell told reporters. “How is he dealing with the transition? … Does he have the right people around him helping him make decisions?”

The commissioner vowed to rule on Vick’s regular-season eligibilty by Week 6, though he left open the possibility that he could reinstate Vick sooner.

ESPN said NFL insiders believe he could clear Vick to play starting in Week 3. Vick missed all of the 2007 and 2008 seasons because of his conviction.

NFL VP of football operations Ray Anderson said in July that “if all goes well,” the commissioner could clear Vick to play as early as Week 1.

For all the national columnists/tweeters who have claimed that Donovan McNabb will not have a problem with Michael Vick serving as his backup…….

McNabb was asked to clarify a moment in last Thursday’s preseason game during which he appeared to be signaling to offensive coordinator Marty Mornhinweg to stop sending Vick into the game so much.

“Before you come up with gimmicks, you need to get your base offense going,” McNabb told reporters in Philly on Monday. “It seemed like we were forcing a lot of things, just to say we ran it.”

To put this in proper context, McNabb continued to show support for Vick on Monday and even indicated that his presence on the field would take pressure off running back Brian Westbrook. I sort of thought LeSean McCoy was drafted to accomplish that goal, but that’s just me.

What you’re starting to see already is what the local media in Philly (and this blog) predicted from the moment Vick signed. The Eagles went out of their way to point out that McNabb had signed off on Vick’s signing. And McNabb has gone out of his way to basically suggest that he’s been riding herd over Operation Vick. But now we’re six plays into Vick’s career in Philly — and McNabb is already complaining. Or should we use a gentler phrase, such as McNabb is offering helpful suggestions.

I think the Eagles are being unbelievably naive to think McNabb will play along with Andy Reid’s fascination with the Wildcat formation. There will come a time in the regular season when the Eagles will interrupt McNabb’s rhythm to give Vick a snap on second down. If McNabb is showing frustration in the first half of a preseason game, do we think he’ll take a relaxed approach in November?

No, the Eagles have taken the most insecure star quarterback in the league and provided him with a backup who is too young (and talented) to think of himself as a backup. Nope, the cracks are already showing. And as Michael Irvin pointed out in a USA Today story on Monday, the controversy could arrive sooner than later.

A massive demonstration is planned to support Michael Vick at Lincoln Financial Field on Thursday, when Vick is expected to make his debut with the Eagles.

The Philadelphia chapter of the NAACP, the Black Clergy of Philadelphia and other local civil rights groups had planned a demonstration to support Vick.

However, the Eagles called the NAACP after hearing of the plans for the demonstration at the stadium, and asked them to cancel the rally to stop a potentially “ugly scene,” J. Whyatt Mondesire, president of the Philadelphia chapter of the NAACP told ESPN.

Mondesire told The Associated Press later Wednesday evening that his group and the Black Clergy of Philadelphia had decided to proceed with their march on Thursday.

“We believe Michael Vick has served his time, paid his debt to society and deserves a second chance and the animal rights groups want to

hold him hostage for the rest of his life,” J. Whyatt Mondesire, president of the Philadelphia chapter of the NAACP, said Wednesday. “We think that’s patently unfair. It denies Michael Vick’s basic civil rights, denies him his ability to make a living.”

The Eagles’ security operation is planning for individual animal rights protests outside the stadium.

Earlier Wednesday, Mondesire said about a half-dozen groups from around the Philadelphia area were planning to meet at the front of Lincoln Financial Field and begin a march around the stadium prior to the Eagles’ preseason game against the Jacksonville Jaguars.

The Eagles have not heard of any planned demonstration or protest from animal rights groups, which met with team management for two hours on Monday at the team’s practice facility. Although no local animal rights group have yet to partner with the Eagles or Vick in a local anti-dogfighting campaign, the meeting appeared to end on a positive note and head off any planned massive protest, participants said.

Meanwhile, animal advocates are throwing a tailgate party on the other side of town

Thursday for the 2nd Chance Dogs campaign — a pointed reference to Vick’s second chance in the NFL — to increase awareness of dogfighting and encourage adoption of rescued pit bulls.

The initiative, sponsored by the Pennsylvania Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, was launched after the Eagles signed Vick, who served 18 months in prison for running a dogfighting ring.

“As a lot of people have pointed out, [Vick's] animals never got a second chance,” SPCA chief executive Sue Cosby said. “We need to speak for them.”

Local animal advocates seem to be keeping their distance. Rather than protest Vick or work with him, they prefer to use the public debate about his return to the NFL to raise money and awareness of animal cruelty issues.

“The animal welfare groups really have no interest in working with Michael Vick,” said Tom Hickey Sr., founder of the Pennsylvania advocacy group DogPAC.

Hickey, who is also a member of the state dog law advisory board, has more than 5,000 signatures on a petition asking the Eagles spend the equivalent of Vick’s salary — $1.6 million — to establish a rehabilitation and training center for dogs.

Nothing was decided at the meeting, but Hickey felt it was constructive.

“I think it was very educational for the Eagles. It was important that they get involved in the community,” he said.

Eagles senior vice president Pamela Browner-Crawley told reporters afterward that “financial support is on the table,” along with other resources, but gave no details.

Karel Minor, executive director of the Humane Society of Berks County, wrote on the agency’s Web site that he was one of many at the meeting who felt it was time to stop chastising the team and start using its resources to help animals.

“We can make use of the power and influence of the Eagles to make a positive difference,” Minor wrote. “We can challenge them to make good on their promise to help us end dogfighting and maybe even more.”

Michael Vick will appear in bankruptcy court in Newport News, Va., to testify at the confirmation hearing for his Chapter 11 reorganization plan on Thursday morning. He will then fly back to Philadelphia to be eligible to play in the Eagles’ third preseason game, a source close to Vick told ESPN’s Sal Paolantonio on Sunday.

Vick is scheduled to fly to Virginia late Wednesday night after the Eagles hold a mock game in practice, the final tune-up for Thursday’s preseason game against the Jacksonville Jaguars.

The bankruptcy hearing is scheduled to begin at 9:30 a.m. and last until the early afternoon. Vick must appear until the hearing is over that day, a source said.

The Eagles are aware of Vick’s court date and his unusual game-day travel plans. The team would not divulge whether the organization is handling his travel arrangements or he is flying commercial to and from Virginia.

“It will not affect his game status,” a team spokesman said.

The Eagles’ decision to sign Michael Vick was driven by coach Andy Reid, who made it clear after the 27-25 loss that he felt as though Vick deserved a chance to turn his life around.

“I’m a believer that as long as people go through the right process, they deserve a second chance,” Reid said. “Michael has done that. I’ve done a tremendous amount of homework on this, and I’ve followed his progress.

He has some great people in his corner, and he has proven that he’s on the right track.” Reid also admitted that his personal life influenced his strong feelings about Vick, referring to the arrests of his two sons, Britt and Garrett, on drug charges.

Quarterback Michael Vick has signed a two-year deal with the Philadelphia Eagles.

Vick arrived in Philadelphia Tuesday morning and remained there Wednesday evening. The Eagles will hold a news conference on Friday morning to announce his signing. The first year of the deal is for $1.6 million with an option for the second year at $5.2 million, sources told ESPN’s Chris Mortensen. Vick can also earn an additional $3 million in incentives over the two years of the contract, sources told ESPN.com’s Len Pasquarelli.

Vick can immediately take part in preseason practices, workouts and meetings and can play in the final two preseason games. Once the season begins, Vick may participate in all team activities except games, and Goodell said he would consider Vick for full reinstatement by Week 6 (Oct. 18-19) at the latest.

“I’m a believer that as long as people go through the right process, they deserve a second chance,” Eagles coach Andy Reid said. “He’s got great people on his side; there isn’t a finer person than Tony Dungy. He’s proven he’s on the right track.”