IS GLAD SPRING TRAINING IS FINALLY HERE
Update: The Eagles' offense did not include Michael Vick running on and off for the drive that began with an Asante Samuel pick, midway through the second quarter, and the result was better continuity. At least until the Birds reached the Jacksonville 1, and the Birds' braintrust came up with one of those calls the fans love so much, a backwards swing pass from Donovan McNabb to LeSean McCoy. Not only were the Jags all over it, they seemed to understand much bettere than McCoy did that when he missed the ball, it hit his helmet and bounced off the ground, it was a fumble. Brian Iwuh ran the miscue 92 yards for a touchdown.
When the Jags tacked on a field goal on their next drive, they held a 17-3 lead.
Previously: Michael Vick came in for the Eagles' second snap, and received a warm ovation from a two-thirds full stadium. There were no overt signs of protest.
Vick ran a sort of option, which the team practiced all week, with Donovan McNabb flanked wide. Vick shoveled the ball forward to LeSean McCoy for a 4-yard gain, sandwiched between two McNabb incompletions to Jason Avant.
Vick came in again for the second play of the second series, running to his left out of the shotgun and gaining a yard.
Later in the drive, Vick completed his first "real" pass, a 13-yarder to Hank Baskett.
All told, he was on the field for five first-quarter plays, one when he lined up in the slot with McNabb as QB. The Jaguars did not seem fooled by any of the trickery involved, and the Eagles got little continuity for their regular first-team offense, one of the stated goals of the evening.
Earlier: The Eagles say it's no big deal, but Brian Westbrook, who had been scheduled to play tonight, will not, after warming up. Don't know what to make of that yet.
Michael Vick appeared for warmups around 5:30 p.m. Milled about among a group of QBs, near the 30-yard-line, on the end of the Linc closest to I-95. Threw passes to a few receivers and stretched, on the field maybe 20-25 minutes before heading off with Donovan McNabb. They paused to engage in a group hug with Herm Edwards. Vick wore game pants, black longsleeve undershirt. No reaction from fans, because there were only about 12 in the stadium. Lovely evening for a tailgate.
Earlier today, a court in Virginia accepted Vick's bankruptcy plan, apparently giving him plenty of time to get back to Philadelphia for tonight's game. Stay tuned.
UPDATING: The inflatable helmet tunnel has just been carried off the field. Not sure if Andy Reid will update its condition when he lists the injuries after the game. Unofficial word is that the helmet tunnel had a hole in it and wouldn't inflate, so the players will just be running out of the unadorned stadium tunnel. Bad omen?
Les
Bowen has covered the Eagles for the Daily News
since 2002.
Before that, he spent nearly 13 years covering the Flyers. It took Les
only a few seasons after the switch to figure out that there was no
penalty box at the Linc, and that the time really wasn't his, despite
what Andy Reid kept saying. Les came to Philadelphia and the Daily News
from Charlotte in 1983. In the intervening years, he has pretty much
lost track of NASCAR, and his accent. He, his wife Barbara, and their
two sons live in Haddon Township, New Jersey.
E-mail Les at bowenl@phillynews.com
and follow
him on Twitter.
Paul
Domowitch has been with the Daily News since 1982.
He has spent most of his nearly 3 decades with the paper covering the
Eagles and pro football. For the last 10 years, he’s been a
selector for the Pro Football Hall of Fame. A native of Wilkes-Barre
and a graduate of Wilkes University, Domo started his career in Texas,
working first for the Midland Reporter-Telegram (1976-78), and then for
the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, where he covered some god-awful Texas
Ranger baseball teams. His first beat at the Daily News actually was
boxing, which he covered just long enough to lose 2 sports coats to
blood spatter before moving on to football. Domo and his wife Shelley,
a University of Oklahoma grad who still hasn’t gotten over
that Fiesta Bowl loss to Boise State 5 years ago, have 2 terrific
daughters -- Allison, 28, who is an attorney in South Jersey, and Amy,
25, who works in administration for a professional baseball team.
E-mail Domo at PDomo@aol.com and follow
him on Twitter.
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