Yong Kim / Staff Photographer
Eagles' quarterback Kevin Kolb throws the football in the first quarter against the New York Jets on Thursday, September 3, 2009.
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Vick signing hasn't bitten Eagles - so far
EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. - Whatever the Eagles expected to happen in the first three weeks after they signed quarterback Michael Vick, they couldn't have expected this.
In their worst-case projections, there must have been visions of mass protests surrounding the stadiums, of taking on a player whose supposedly lax work habits hadn't improved with time, of football skills diminished beyond recognition, of some relative driving a car registered to Vick being pulled over for heaven knows what.
But something. There would have to be something.
Instead, for the risk of trusting in the better angels of Vick's nature - and in the short-attention-span theater that houses public outrage - the Eagles have been rewarded with a smoother road than any could have predicted.
What have they gotten in these three weeks? Not much more than what accompanies the signing of any free agent, let alone a felon who did prison time for crimes that turn the stomachs of most Americans.
All right, they did get a minor controversy when Donovan McNabb said something a little wacky, claimed the media had blown it out of proportion, and then repeated the same wacky thing. But McNabb does that every season, usually seven or eight times, so that might not have had much to do with Vick's arrival.
Yesterday, the good times kept on rolling for Ookie's new team when NFL commissioner Roger Goodell said Vick would have to sit for only two regular-season games before full reinstatement. Speaking before last night's 38-27 exhibition loss to the Jets, team president Joe Banner said that seemed about right.
"He's been a model citizen at this point," Banner said, "whether we're talking about the plans we're putting together in the community, or talking about his work ethic at practice, or the hours he's put in coming to the office from early in the mornings to late in the evenings to make himself the best he can be. He's doing everything we could ask him to do."
Take all of that, roll it together, join hands in a campfire circle with the commissioner, Tony Dungy, Andy Reid, and Mother Teresa if you like, but none of it means the Eagles are really sure this will continue to work.
All of them have looked into Vick's eyes and listened to his words and agreed to take a shot. But it could still blow up at any time.
"I think so far it's been a positive story, but we're very early in it," Banner said. "Things we're looking for on the field and things we've talked about off the field are really just beginning to happen. Everybody feels good that things have gone positively so far, but we're just in the first few chapters of a long story."
To be honest, aside from getting past the initial you-must-be-kidding aspect of the signing, the hard stuff is still to come, and the Eagles really haven't asked Vick to do that much.
He has practiced football, worked on learning an offense, said the right things in controlled settings, not suffered a stupid misstep and kept quiet while the furor around him slowed from boil to simmer. He has run some basic plays, mostly option or wishbone-type options and, aside from upsetting McNabb's delicate rhythm last week, has done fairly positive things.
Last night his numbers weren't that good, but he was being protected by horrendous combinations of offensive linemen. There were moments when he stepped into the open and you could see the possibilities that are ahead.
It is true that none of the things asked of him have come in a game that counts, when the ledger will be written in ink rather than pencil. And for all the social progress his return to the NFL might bring, Vick hasn't made a single appearance in his new role as an animal advocate.
Banner said a Vick appearance in the community would be announced soon, and that the organization was working on its own initiatives. It sounds as if the Eagles are going to throw some money and publicity at the problem while Vick acts as an occasional figurehead with little responsibility. Maybe that's harsh, but we'll see.
The biggest question remains: Has Michael Vick changed, or has he merely adapted to his new reality? Is he sincere, or just willing to say anything that would get him back in the NFL?
Either positively or negatively, everyone has an opinion on that one. Banner admitted that it was too soon to tell.
"I don't think you can have illusions that you can be sure," he said. "I think that we spent time with him, talked to people who know him really well, and made the assessment that we believe he's sincere and that he'll prove that.
"I don't think anybody would tell you we're absolutely sure. We're very optimistic, and we're persuaded. We'll see here as time goes on if our being persuaded was right or wrong."
And that's all they really have - the hope they haven't been duped.
That and the unsettling knowledge that everything that has happened in the last three weeks has been the easy part.
Contact columnist Bob Ford at 215-854-5842 or bford@phillynews.com. Read his blog at http://philly.com/postpatterns
