Vick shows some signs of improvement

It was the first chance to see if Michael Vick had truly been rehabilitated - as a quarterback.

There were positive signs in Vick's first extensive period of running the Eagles' offense in the Birds' 28-27 victory over Jacksonville at home Friday night. And there were moments that were all too familiar for those that have followed the 30-year-old's career since his take-off-and-run days in Atlanta.

Vick flashed glimpses of the effortless arm and crazy legs - most notably on a 46-yard pass to rookie wide receiver Riley Cooper and on a 10-yard touchdown run - that had awed coaches and scouts when the Virginia Tech product was chosen first in the 2001 NFL draft.

But the most impressive moment came when, faced with the decision to stay in the pocket or take off and run, Vick remained composed, went through his next read and delivered a completed pass.

On his second drive, he delivered a pass to receiver Jordan Norwood before taking a blow. And a few plays later, Vick made the right read and dumped off to running back Eldra Buckley when a Jaguars blitz broke through the Eagles line.

"That's what they're teaching me here," Vick said. "It's fun sitting in the pocket. It's fun distributing the ball. . . . I always felt like I could do it, I always wanted to do it."

But those moments were fleeting.

For the most part, the Eagles' backup quarterback looked like the Vick of old. If the pocket collapsed, he often had happy feet, as he did on his first possession when he was sacked from behind and fumbled. And when he tried to make a quick decision and throw on the run, he failed to plant those feet and tossed an interception just before the half.

Vick's numbers in almost two quarters of play - 11-of-17 passing for 119 yards with one interception and six carries for 50 yards - looked as if they had come from a half-decade-old Falcons summary.

"You can't have the turnovers that we had," Eagles coach Andy Reid said. "But he did some good things in there, too."

Vick has obviously been a work in progress since the Eagles signed him a year ago just months after his 18-month stay in a federal prison. Last year, he played almost exclusively in the Eagles' Wildcat package and was nowhere near in shape.

"I was 15 pounds heavier and two weeks being off home confinement," Vick said.

He devoted much of his off-season to getting into playing shape and to learning the nuances of Reid's and offensive coordinator Marty Mornhinweg's West Coast offense. The Eagles occasionally may use Vick with the first-team offense - as they did once Friday - but he's here to be Kevin Kolb's backup, and, for his benefit, to try and become once again appealing to other teams.

"I appreciate what they're teaching me and I appreciate the system and I appreciate all the quarterbacks who came through this system and what they've learned and how they developed and how they became great," Vick said. "That's what I'm striving for."

Reid and Mornhinweg don't want Vick to abandon all his habits, especially when he has apparently recaptured some of that old magic. On the first drive when the offense reached the red zone, Vick jumped up in the pocket to avoid the rush. There was room to run, but he paused for a second and had his heels kicked out from under him.

"They got upset at me one time because I was hesitant and I was indecisive on getting out of the pocket," Vick said. "They were like, 'Just go. Use your abilities.' "

Aggressive corners. Of the six plays the first-team defense played, the Eagles' starting cornerbacks made four aggressive stops.

It was a small sample, but a nice start for Asante Samuel and Ellis Hobbs, who both came into training camp with doubts about their tackling ability.

As the season wore on last year, opponents increasingly picked on Samuel's soft coverage and poor tackling with swing passes and bubble screens. It led many to believe that teams would go at Samuel early and often.

"It's been well-documented . . . and we've talked about it," Eagles defensive coordinator Sean McDermott said.

The 5-foot-9 Hobbs is coming off season-ending neck surgery last December that had some questioning his durability. But when Jacksonville went at the cornerback with a quick pass on its second play from scrimmage, Hobbs closed in and held the gain to just two yards.

"Our greatest strength is also our greatest weakness - our speed," said Hobbs, who also assisted on another tackle. "We fly around so fast . . . that a lot of teams can get us going in the wrong direction and sucked up the field."

A play later on third down, Jaguars quarterback David Garrard threw to Marcedes Lewis short of the first-down marker. The 5-foot-10, 185-pound Samuel came up and made the tackle on the tight end, who had eight inches and 90 pounds on him, forcing a punt. Samuel also broke up a pass a series later.

"I thought he had a great off-season," Reid said. "He really focused in on getting stronger. He told [the media] that he was going to do that, and I know he did that."