Marty Says Vick's Right
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Marty Says Vick's Right
Les Bowen
When Michael Vick spoke Thursday about needing to be more aggressive, more of a risk-taker, after just his second turnover-free game of the season, a lot of us wondered if this was really what the coaching staff had in mind.
Marty Mornhinweg assured us Friday that it was.
"We've talked about that ... that's necessary," the Eagles' offensive coordinator said. "You know our mentality, we've talked about that before. We want to be aggressive, aggressive, aggressive. Unafraid to make a mistake. When we make a mistake, we try to swiftly correct it and we move on. It's that simple.
"There's reasons why these things have occurred. Excellence is all about attitude. We've discussed that as a unit -- that is important, that attitude and that certain mentality.
"I thought last ballgame, at a certain point in that ballgame, we needed more of it."
The implication was that Vick and other players on Mornhinweg's unit maybe got a little discouraged. LeSean McCoy talked after the game about playing with pride and heart, in the aftermath of the 30-17 loss to the unbeaten Falcons.
Mornhinweg referenced "a certain attitude, that we're the baddest men on the field. And that mentality that we're going to be aggressive, aggressive, aggressive."
Mornhinweg noted that problems are "highlighted when you don't get many chances," that you have to make the most of limited opportunities. The Eagles had the ball just once in the first quarter Sunday, as the Falcons built a 14-0 lead.
Mornhingweg said he has had "a couple of private conversations" with Vick lately, did not want to characterize them. He said the Eagles "typically have" the attitude he referenced. "We've gone through some hard times as a ballclub in the past, and then come out of it and played well down the stretch. Last year, it was too late when we put it together. We've got to put it together now, get going."
Asked how much of a distraction criticism of the team has become, Mornhinweg said: "Very little. I will say this, that there are some players that can't play in this city. It's that simple. The tough guy, physically and mentally, can thrive, playing for the Philadelphia Eagles and this city. I've been here a while now, I've built up a lot of respect for our fans. They are passionate. It's almost like they can say anything they want about their players, but nobody else can. We understand that. It's very simple: outside influences distract us zero."
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Defensive coordinator Todd Bowles said missed tackles were the culprit when it came to Atlanta's repeated success with screens. He said the changed rotational numbers on the defensive line reflected the Falcons' tendency to run the ball; he indicated those trends might not hold for Monday's game at New Orleans.
Asked about defensive end Brandon Graham, whose 31 snaps were his most of the season, Bowles said: "Brandon did a good job. I don't know if it was so much an increase as it was different personnel groups require different people. If you get caught out there on a long drive, your snaps may tend to get skewed a little bit more."
Bowles said that in allowing Atlanta to score on its first six drives of the game, "there were a lot of things (from) training camp and OTAs, Day 1 kinds of things that shouldn't have happened ... we corrected them in the meeting, and we'll go from there."
we must be incredibly jaded to believe that marty is the one in charge of the offense— AlexSp- There are some coaches that can't coach in this city...ones that are smart, can make adjustments, learn from their mistakes, know how to get th maximum from their players, and can help them get better. Those are the kind of coaches that can coaching Philly. Marty I know some good coaches, and you are not one or them.— 5thstrretpast
- there are some coaches that can't coach in this city.. or in Detroit.— Tyrone Biggums
- Mornhinweg noted that problems are "highlighted when you don't get many chances," that you have to make the most of limited opportunities.
Sounds like Marty did a No NO...threw the defense under the bus. When the back biting between offense and defense becomes public, you know the wheels are coming off.— Carlos2 - You don't fix poor tackling and lack of heart in a meeting Bowles. What a maroon.— rockinrob
- Marty must go.........His offense stinks....his buddy AR picked the talent....and told him what the scheme was and he plays kiss up and does what andy says...he is a joke and has no guts or courage to do what is right and tell AR what should be done.....but then again, he has proved nothing with all this so called talent.....Fire AR, MM, April, Mudd, Washburn.....None of them deserve this city and its fans...— nuggett
- Remember where Marty came from....The Detroit Lions ! He was fired as the head coach! At the time the LIONS were the WORST team in NFL history ! This is our OFFENSIVE COORDINATORb! "THEY ARE WHO WE THOUGHT THEY WERE." The Beagles need their house demolished & then start ALL OVER ! If it doesn't happen, MEDIOCRITY WILL BE THE ORDER OF THE DAY! Same old same old! Until somebody takes a wrecking ball to this team, what you see is what you'll get....year after year after year! Just like the last 14. Either you change the menu or your on it! Make up your minds.— frank castle
- The numbet 1 culprit is HOWIE ROseman! Let me post 2 FACTS for you guys!
Fact #1 The eagles are tied with the jaguars as the teams most UNDER the salary cap. Wonder why we have no debt and special teams? simple, the organization decided that you can save 20million in an ALL IN SUPERBOWL year!
Fact #2: The teams that spent the most money, and have little cap space left are: the flacons, 49ers, texans, patriots..coincidently they are the best team in the nfl
wanna spend money like the jaguars? then you get slop on the field like the jaguars. no team 20million under the cap will ever compete for anything more then mediocrity! anyone care to dispute that? geeeez and we thought Nickles was cheap— johnGiam - Marty M. needs to ADD THE COACHING STAFF TO THE PLAYERS THAT DON'T PLAY OR COACH IN PHILLY!!— tulsaphil
- Some "can't coach" here either. How do you coach a dreadful Lions team and then get rewarded with O-Coordinator for one of the best offenses in the league? He is a joke! FIRE ANDY FIRE ANDY DOT NET!— fireandydotnet
- If Vick had to make plays just once in a while to escape the rush, the risk of making a big play would be worth it, but when he has to do it 10 or 15 times a game, he is going to get blindsided,fumble, throw interceptions and/or get hurt. A pocket QB would have no chance. You cant compete with as bad an offensive line as the Birds have. It's one of the 4 or 5 worst in all of football.— tr88
- Some can't coach either!— TheOnionPeeler
- Mornhinweg should have been the first one fired— jjjimjjj
- as a diehard birds fan, i'm not looking forward to suffering for another 9 more weeks with this regime but come january the days of marty, andy and this staff will be over and we can start a new beginning...i know i've heard many say "be careful what you ask for" but seriously, could it really be any worse than these past few years?? i thank andy for rebuilding the eagles from the horrible kotite and end-of-ray-rhodes era years but it's time...and i don't care how the next staff acts with the media or the fans....JUST WIN A SUPER BOWL AND NO ONE WILL CARE— eaglesfaninaustin
