The myth behind Vick's 2011 injuries
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The myth behind Vick's 2011 injuries
Sheil Kapadia, Philly.com
Update: Lots of good feeback on this post, so I answered some questions in a second post.
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I was doing some research over the weekend for an offseason project and came across a couple Michael Vick nuggets worth sharing.
As we approach mini-camps, OTAs and eventually training camp, there will be a lot written and said about Vick's injuries and how his ability to stay healthy will go a long way in determining the Eagles' success in 2012.
For the record, I agree with that part.
But the rest of the narrative might focus on Vick's "reckless" play. You might hear that he missed three games last year and failed to finish two more. And that those injuries occurred because Vick too often left the pocket, scrambled or refused to slide.
That notion, I discovered, is a bit misguided.
I went back and looked at Vick's injuries from a year ago. By my count, there were four significant ones reported by the team: the concussion that knocked him out of the Falcons game; the bruised right hand that knocked him out of the first Giants meeting; the finger injury against the 49ers; and the two broken ribs against the Cardinals that caused him to miss the next three games.
Here's a breakdown of what happened on the four plays where Vick is believed to have sustained those injuries.
Concussion: Vick dropped back and completed a 9-yard pass to Jeremy Maclin. But LeSean McCoy did a poor job of picking up blitzing Falcons safety William Moore on Vick's front side. Moore hit Vick, who spun around and bumped into right tackle Todd Herremans. He left the game with a concussion. But this injury had nothing to do with Vick being reckless. He executed the play well, and his teammate (McCoy) didn’t do his job. It was also a freak injury. Vick did not suffer the concussion because he was hit by Moore. It happened because he collided with his own right tackle.
Bruised right hand: The Eagles ran a play-action fake against the Giants, and Vick delivered a beautiful 23-yard completion to Maclin. This was not a designed roll-out, but rather, Vick stayed in the pocket. Giants defensive lineman Chris Canty nailed him right under the chin with his helmet. A penalty could have been called on the play, but the refs didn't throw a flag, causing Vick to publicly complain about receiving unfair treatment in his post-game press conference. But again, Vick was in the pocket and completed a pass on the play.
Injured finger: By now, you may be starting to sense a pattern. Against San Francisco, Vick stood in the pocket and delivered a 7-yard completion to McCoy. But 49ers defensive lineman Justin Smith got some pressure against Jason Peters around the edge and hit Vick's finger as he released the football. The play occurred in the second quarter, but Vick completed 30 of 46 passes for 416 yards in the game.
Broken ribs: And finally, Andy Reid said Vick sustained two broken ribs on the second play of the Cardinals game when linebacker Daryl Washington came untouched on Vick's front side and nailed him as he got rid of the ball to Brent Celek for a 13-yard gain. Vick went on to play perhaps his worst game as an Eagle, completing just 16 of 34 passes for 128 yards and a pair of interceptions.
Four injuries on four plays. And in each instance, Vick not only was in the pocket, but he completed the pass.
Don't get me wrong. Vick needs to do his best to avoid unnecessary hits. He needs take care of his body and the football for the Eagles' offense to be successful.
But any suggestion that the injuries he sustained in 2011 were due to him leaving the pocket, running recklessly or not sliding are off-base.
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Good article. Nice work!— bc3030- Dexter, I would say you are completely wrong on most of that, but thats my opinion. Following you and Andy Reids philosophies on football has accomplished virtually nothing in the last decade, and the only time he even came close was with bigger better players that he inherited from someone else. Since then they have almost no remotely close chance to winning a superbowl using the methods you seem to endose. not happening. EVER.— CharlieGarner25
- The only good thing is ,is that Vick will be gone after this year and charmaine and blessed can go to another teams web site and read the same articles about Vick and what a loser he is.— Geno D
- @GenoD Who said Vick would be gone next year?.........YOU. Since you feel Vick is a loser, why are you sticking around, aren't you the same person who said (more than once) that you wouldn't watch another Eagles game until Vick was gone?.....I believe you are, but yet not only do you watch the games you take the time to find any and all articles about the Eagles to make a comment about Vick. Oh yeah I knew the freaks would be here, and you're the biggest freak of them all. Tell you what Geno, why don't you do us all a favor and stick to your word, don't watch another Eagles game until Vick is gone. Oh and one more thing, what makes you believe you're not a loser, when you are indeed the biggest loser of them all, not to mention FREAK. — charmaine
- Geno you are as dumb as a box of rock, really try and do something with your life instead of trolling the internet looking for Vick articles. Do your really think Vick gives a flying flip about you or the garbage you are talking? Do you really think the Eagles care about your opinion of course they don't that is why Vick and read are still here and will be here. For somebody who claims they don't follow the Eagles or Vick you sure seem to be on every artice related. You are one of those closet freaks that say one thing and do another. LOSER!!!! — Blessed8251
- Dexter, you are wrong about the Eagles OLine when McNabb played. He had one of the best in football. Always and excuse for #5.— watsonmr
- Sheil Kapadia's articles are the best thing on this site.
It's a shame they are always about the Eagles.— ekw555 - It's not about Vick leaving the pocket and recklessly scrambling, as Sheil points out. The problem is that Vick is as fragile as a China doll. Plenty of other QBs take these hits without getting injured. The issue is that Vick is 5'10 and 180 pounds.— mknphotos
- My argument isn't Andy Reid's accomplishments, but rather the inefficiencies of the Eagles Offensive Line in protecting their Quarterback.
The Fact he's not won a Super Bowl is due to the lack of talent in skill positions. I love the Eagles and how they have represented Phila over the last 13 years. But the Eagles have NEVER Fielded a solid contender.
On what other team would the Receivers McNabb went to war with other than TO, would any of them have been major contributors, where after leaving the Eagles had any achieved success?
Strictly along the Offensive Line they were not up to the task of protecting the Eagles quarterbacks, the injury history and missed games and Season between Kolb, McNabb and Vick confirms what I'm saying.
Neither Quarterback missed time because of Turf Toe or a pull hamstring. Each was knocked out of Games and, or Season from solid shots in the Pocket.
— Dexter - You do not improve your team being in denial. In a combined, 2010 and 2011, the Eagles Quarterbacks were sacked 100 times, an average of 50 Sacks per season. That doesn't include the hits the Eagles Quarterback also took during the period.
There was no wonder why two Rookies were starting on the Eagles Offensive Line last year. 2011 saw major improvements among the Offensive Line productivity. However, as Sheil pointed out it's not only the Offensive Linemen but the backs also who are notorious for missing key blocking assignments. That's one reason Shady is over used, he's not exceptional and misses blocks in the passing game, but he's the best the Eagles have.
I doesn't take much to be the best blocker the Eagles have at a key position.
The Blitz is effective against the Eagles more because the linemen and backs can not pick up the protection. This also has a bright spot, the protection flaws makes the Eagles a premier Screen Team. This is what made Westbrook a night mare for opposing Defensive Coordinators.
Andy's accomplished a great deal with over achievers. He's never had Super Bowl Talent.
— Dexter - Football Outsiders "Pass Protection Blocking 2011"
PHI "11" 32 Sacks 5.9%
The Best
BUF 1 23 Sacks 3.8%
Run Blocking
26 PHI 3.89 4.54RB Yards
1 NO 4.95 5.02RB Yards
2010 "Pass Protection Blocking"
PHI 28Rank 49Sacks
2009 Pass Protection Blocking
PHI 20Rank 40Sacks
— Dexter 
Andy Reids playoff record is 10 and 8 meat brain not 2 wins his entire career. Learn to google before you flap your gums, figuratively speaking.- I think a lot of people are missing the point: this article actually proves what I think is the most valid criticism of Vick. Namely, that he holds on to the ball too long in the pocket. He waits too long to get rid of the ball hoping to make a big play--thus leading to more hits. And he does not have the ability (for whatever reason--intelligence, work ethic, or otherwise), to recognize where the pressure is coming from the defense and adjust accordingly. instead of focusing on how his injuries did not occur out of the pocket, we should instead focus on how many needless hits he took throughout the season. Regardless of whether a specific hit lead to an injury, the cumulative effects of every unnecessary hit adds up, thus causing him to miss more games. Until he fixes those issues, he will always miss games.— phillypatrick3
- Funny that so many people are comparing Michael Vick to Peyton Manning in the comments section. Mike definitely doesn't have: Peyton's size; ability to read defenses; ability to avoid sacks; Peyton's ability to call out the proper protections at the line of scrimmage; or Peyton Manning's Super Bowl ring (and MVP). There's another thing that Manning now has that Vick doesn't - a bad neck. In spite of Manning's career of playing it "the right way" he is STILL recovering from an injury that cost him all of last season. According to most recent reports, Manning still is not completely recovered. Football is a tough sport. Players, even if they play it the "right way", are going to get hurt.— knighn
- Hindsight, you are correct, I picked up completion numbers not attempts. However even with those numbers it's pass 554, rush 450 and that breaks down to 55.2%...a far cry from 60%...and still less than the Pats and Giants who were in the SB. And since you said the other day that Vick needs MORE TD passes I assume you now want the Eagles to THROW MORE? So your arguments are now that you want the Eagles to pass MORE and you want them to pass less...I get it.— tpizza
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