IS BUYING CROSS-COUNTRY SKIS
Like most NFL teams, the Eagles will not play their starters in the preseason finale. Next Thursday's game against the Jets will be almost exclusively backups and those players fighting for the final remaining roster spots.
For the Eagles, the interesting question is where Michael Vick fits in.
His six plays last night were his first game action since 2006 as the Eagles tried to "get his feet wet," in coach Andy Reid's words. Vick did not have the benefit of a full training camp and is trying to get acclimated to the offense with post-practice sessions with the coaches. After the preseason ends, he faces a suspension that could keep him off the field for up to five weeks. He said he has not heard yet.
Asked whether Vick would play against the Jets, Reid said, "There's a chance."
Asked whether he wanted to play, Vick said: "Hopefully, whatever the plan is I have to go with it. I may be out there, maybe not. We’ll have to see.”
Vick put himself at 70 percent physically and said the better shape he gets in, the more he can help the team.
"Regardless of what we are doing, I will be able to make it work," he said. "If it’s at the quarterback position or the wildcat formation, regardless of what we are doing, if I am out there, I just want to be productive. That is why I go home and study every night, that’s why I prepare myself and that’s why I am spending that extra time after practice trying to get my body back to playing shape. I am almost there, about 70 percent there. So, right now I am just going off my natural ability. Once I get myself into top shape, the sky is the limit. I just want to use my abilities to help this team.”
Here are some reactions to Vick's performance last night:
Hank Baskett: “He looked good. He definitely has an arm on him. He read the defense [well]. It’s all about being on the same page. No matter what happens, it’s all about the quarterback and the receiver being on the same page ... He’s been showing great signs, and great character and poise throughout practice. And he came out here and did it tonight. He played a good game.”
Jason Avant: “He made a couple guys miss. It’s going to take him a while to get after them. Being away for two years, I thought he did good. He stepped into a couple throws. He looks better than most people are expecting. This is a game -- at this level, with these types of athletes -- that you just can’t come back into and be the same player. But tonight, he proved that he still has a lot left to play.”
Jeremy Maclin: “I thought he looked alright. He only got a few snaps, but I thought he executed when he was in there. I thought he did very well.”
DeSean Jackson: “I think it was really important for him to get out there. Get some things going and get into that rhythm, as far as being with the starters, flying around and making a lot of plays. But we all still have a lot of work to do. As we get to practice more, we can keep grinding and keep getting better ... I think he looked pretty good to me. There was time when if he looked at me I was open in the corner of the end-zone and it would have been a touchdown. He did good and I’m looking forward to heading into the season and moving from here.”
Jaguars coach Jack Del Rio: “I’m happy for him that he is getting the opportunity to resume his career. I wish him the best with that.”
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Daily News columnist Rich Hofmann chats Eagles at 1 p.m. today.
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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.
Paul Domowitch has been with the Daily News since 1982. He has spent most of his 27 years at 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 came to the Daily News from the Fort Worth (Tx.) Star-Telegram, where he covered some god-awful Texas Ranger baseball teams. His first beat at the Daily News actually wa s boxing, which he covered just long enough to lose two sports coats to blood spatter before moving on to football. Domo and his wife Shelley, a University of Oklahoma grad and very dangerous to be around following a Sooner loss, have been married 29 years and have raised 2 terrific daughters – Allison, 26, a lawyer and graduate of Boston University School of Law; and Amy, 23, who graduated from Clemson and works in marketing and sales for a professional baseball team.
