Marty: 'Quick Discussion'
The Philadelphia Daily News - Eagletarian
Marty: 'Quick Discussion'
Les Bowen, Daily News Staff Writer
Eagles offensive coordinator Marty Mornhinweg acknowledged a "quick discussion" on the sideline last Thursday with
quarterback Donovan McNabb, about the offense's problems trying to sustain rhythm with Michael Vick shuttling on and off the field once every series.
"I understand all that," Mornhinweg said. He said that going forward, the team's use of Vick is "not going to affect our rhythm."
Mornhinweg was asked about the fact that last year's Eagles offense started to click for the Thanksgiving game against Arizona, when Mornhinweg and Eagles coach Andy Reid pared down the personnel groupings and simplified the attack.
That happened, Mornhinweg said, because by that point in the season, it was apparent that "we were good at certain things ... You play to your strengths."
Mornhinweg indicated Vick is likely to play a lot in the final preseason game, this Thursday at the Jets. McNabb and the starters are not expected to play, though Mornhinweg seemed to hint that some starters who haven't gotten many preseason reps -- such as left tackle Jason Peters, right tackle Shawn Andrews and right guard Stacy Andrews -- might get on the field.
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Defensive coordinator Sean McDermott called his middle linebacking position "a work in progress." Joe Mays, rookie Moise Fokou and veteran Omar Gaither, who has been out with a knee injury, seem to be the components. McDermott acknowledged that overall, his young linebacking group has struggled with play action. "They're getting better at that," he said.
McDermott also acknowledged a continuing battle for the safety spot opposite Quintin Mikell, with Quintin Demps fighting Sean Jones and maybe even rookie Macho Harris, who clearly has caught the coaching staff's fancy.
McDermott wriggled out of a questioner's attempt to get him to concede disappointment that those roles have not been seized authoritatively this late in the preseason.
McDermott said he wouldn't say he was disappointed, he would prefer to say that "we've had youth at the positions."
I like McNabb. He competes, but I do not believe that he is an elite quarteback any more. Whe he was a threat to run, the defences had to stay in zone defences all the time so McNabb always threw to a spot tha the receiver settled into and never had to hit a receiver in stride. In the last pre-season game, McNabb's only real miscues were when he was asked to lead his receivers. Jackson was on a crossing route and McNabb threw the ball 6 yards behind him. the only result that can happen from throws like this are interceptions and receivers carried off in stretchers. The other miscue was the lateral to McCoy. He was supossed to lead McCoy toward the line of scrimmage, but he instead hit McCoy in the back of the head. We will see what happens this year, but with faster receivers comes more pressure to lead them because they will run more go routes than hook routes.— chrisrr
Comment removed.- Dean...go over and visit Vick is King and mimic his head stuck between his legs...both of you are fools...— merlinknghts
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- The Eagles will be no better than 8-8 this season. Qutie frankly, they haven't been a top level team since the SB run of 2004. 2 out of 4 seasons below .500, and two EXTREMELY LUCKY playoff appearences due to Jeff Garcia and Chicago / Tampa incompetence. Just like in 2007, this team will struggle with a non-last place schedule. The D is extremely weak and young, and the O-line has 3 new starters. Too much to overcome. Finally, the experiment with DoggyKiller will blow up in Andy's face, especially when 5 goes on one of his patented mid-season swoons. Great idea...let true character guys like Dawk and Runyan leave, and instead, sign a psychopathic, pre-meditated murderer like Vick. Good choices Andy.— Dean1
- For those of you that call yourselves Eagle's fans, it is only pre-season and already you are beating up our team. As a long suffering Eagles fan, I understand OUR collective desire to bring a Super Bowl to Philadelphia. I just don't understand all the negativity about Donovan, in particular, before the season starts. Vick is a good backup/compliment to Donovan. However, anyone who truly follows football, knows that Vick had a season to prove himself in Atlanta. As for the preseason game, Donovan didn't begin complaining until the second quarter...the team was down 14-3. What franchise caliber qb wouldn't want to take the remaining time in the 2nd and the 3rd quarter to work out the kinks (with the first unit). Afterall, it is the last time the first unit will play together before Carolina. I am going to suggest something to irrational for many Eagles fans...Let's give OUR Eagles our full sport this season!!! Go EAGLES!!!!!!— TruFan
- Are we still on the Kolb bandwagon? VickisaKing is really lonewolf in disguise. Vick isnt a bad QB, but he is no McNabb. And lets not talk about crime, Philly has its problems like any other major city. Wonder whats going on in the backwoods outside Atlanta that the Sheriff's don't care about?— desdimone
- eagles unstoppable? running? how many 260lb running backs have you seen or heard of in your lifetime? who's playing mlb, free safety, right corner back? is herremans going on ir? is weaver healthy? will shawn andrews ever play three series let along three games? who is the punt returner, kick off returner? will ackers hit 30% from 40 out? i said it durning the 2nd week of training camp and it hurst me to say it again. this teams in shambles at present. maybe they are honning this squad for the december push.— JACK V
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- VickisKing, That Green Bay game was 7 years ago. And the "fits" he gave to The Eagles defense in that title game amounted to 10 points, 135 yards on 11 of 24 attempts with a pick and 26 yards rushing. Wow, talk about fits? The Eagles showed everyone how to frustrate Vick and the rest of the league did just that the next two years to Vick. He hasn't had a good season in 5 years. Try watching football sometime.— jaybatt79
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- VickisKing, Vick was almost on his way out of Atlanta in 2006 before the dogfighting thing. They had a losing record and lost 7 of their last 9 that year. His qb rating (75 which is pathetic) and completion percentage had gone down for 3 consecutive years and were ranked in the bottom 5 in the league for starting qb's. Blank had to replace the coach and trade Matt Schaub to squelch all of the demand in Atlanta for him to be benched, remember the middle fing to the fans thing? Truth is, he might not even be a starter in the league right now if he hadn't gone to jail and certainly is nowhere near as good as McNabb.— jaybatt79
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- McNabb is already in mid-season form with his excuses. The guy looks bad at this point. That is why the Eagles signed Vick. McNabb is done, they should have traded him before he fell apart.— fred13
- Kevin Kolb looked like the best QB of them all. Not athlete but QB.— dwaynem
- VickIsKing, can I have some of what you're smoking?— jaybatt79
- Mad, he's not an eagles fan. Just as few others posting on this site. They come on to stir up things. They're lifeless idiots acting as if they are concerned fans.— NeilHarry1
- How will he lead them to the playoffs? Do you think Reid is going to install a run-only offense? Vick is a great quarterback, as long as you don't need him to read defenses or actually complete passes. It's a shame that the Internet gives a mouthpiece to every idiot Eagles fan in Philly.— MadAsHell
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