Paul Domowitch: Jaworski throws his support behind Vick

So, Ron Jaworski: What do you do with Michael Vick after this season? Keep him in Philadelphia and sign him to a new deal with a lot of zeroes at the end? Or trade him for a high-round pick and stake your future on Kevin Kolb?

"I can't see Michael Vick not being the quarterback in Philadelphia [in 2011]," said the ESPN "Monday Night Football" analyst, who once upon a time was the town quarterback here himself.

"The sampling still is very small on Michael. But based on him continuing to play the way he's played, I would say he would be the starting quarterback going forward. He's been accepted in this town. The players have embraced him. And he's performed very well on the field.

"There is a tremendous air of excitement about the explosive nature of this Eagles offense right now. When you have the strong arm and escapability of a Michael Vick, when you've got a DeSean Jackson and a Jeremy Maclin and a LeSean McCoy, this is a very potent offensive group, and I would think the Eagles will want to keep this group together as long as they can."

Vick, who turned 30 in June, is the league's top-rated passer with a 105.3 rating, which is more than 27 points higher than his career rating (77.8). He hasn't thrown an interception in 125 attempts this season. And, oh yeah, he's also rushed for 261 yards and 14 first downs.

The catch-me-if-you-can speed, the quick twitch that allows Vick to do his Houdini thing when pass rushers are bearing down on him, is back.

But there's more to Vick than that now. Eagles coach Andy Reid not only gave Vick the opportunity to pick up the pieces of his shattered life when he signed him last year, he also gave him the opportunity to finally learn how to be a quarterback. Vick took that opportunity and, pardon the pun, ran with it.

"What I'm seeing now is a quarterback that is staying with his progressions a little bit longer," Jaworski said. "I always thought in Atlanta he would look to one guy. If that guy didn't come open, he was looking to escape the pocket.

"I'm seeing a quarterback now who's more inclined to stay in the pocket and go through his progressions and find No. 2 and find No. 3. That's what happens when you ultimately become a good quarterback. Then you take the run option as your last option. Are there still times when he could've gone to 2 and gone to 3 and has left the pocket early? Yes. But, for the most part, I'm seeing good improvement there."

What Jaworski hasn't seen - and would like to see - is for Vick to be a little less reckless when he runs. Vick already has missed three games with a rib cartilage injury after getting sandwiched by two tacklers in the first meeting with the Redskins. Vick talks about needing to be smart when he runs, but sings the "I've Gotta Be Me" tune when anyone mentions the possibility of another injury.

"Michael is a competitor and he wants to get the most out of every play," Jaworski said. "But you've also got to play the game smart. He's taking too many hits. He took some vicious shots last week [against Indianapolis].

"When he became the starter earlier this season, I said I love what he's doing. I love the way he's playing. But he's gonna get hurt. And he did. And if he continues to play with the reckless abandon he even played with last week, he's going to get hurt again.

"Teams will continue to get after him. They know if he gets a bruised shoulder or elbow or wrist he can't play because he's a quarterback. He's not an offensive lineman who can just get taped up and go out and do his job. Teams will take the extra shot at Michael if he doesn't slide.

"He ought to be over at the Phillies right now working on his slide. He's running for 30 yards and he's looking for contact. Run for 30 yards and look to slide. Get down and stay healthy."

Vick admitted again yesterday that he doesn't know how to slide. Said he tried to learn when he was with the Falcons and, "it didn't work. For some reason, I always think I'm going to get hurt or something crazy's going to happen."

Jaworski isn't buying it.

"I think if we went out in the hall, we could slide," he said. "I don't think there's any art to it. It's just a matter of don't worry about getting the extra yards. Get down on the ground and don't take the hit."

UNTIL WE MEET AGAIN

Tight end Brent Celek didn't have a reception Sunday against the Colts. In fact, just one pass was thrown in his direction the entire game. A big reason for that was that he spent much of the game staying in and helping left tackle Jason Peters block Colts defensive end Dwight Freeney.

Freeney, one of the game's most feared pass rushers, didn't have a sack and was only in on two tackles. Earlier this week on "Daily News Live," Celek said Freeney was so frustrated by the constant double- and triple-teams, that "it was getting to the point where he was ready to give up ... you could tell after a few guys hit him, he would just kind of quit on a play."

Well, you probably can imagine that Celek's comments didn't go over too well with Freeney.

"That was kind of funny," Freeney told reporters Wednesday. "The guy doesn't block me one-on-one. He has two other guys helping him, or another guy helping, and he's talking trash after the fact. I wish I had heard some of that during the game, but I didn't hear it.

"It is what it is. Hats off to him and them. We'll probably see them again. Hopefully, he blocks me one-on-one to see how it really feels. I don't think I quit, but it is what it is."

Guess he's anticipating a Colts-Eagles Super Bowl in February.

AROUND THE NFC EAST

-- When the Eagles and Giants face off a week from Sunday in a critical NFC East prime-time battle at the Linc, ex-Eagle Shawn Andrews figures to be the Giants' starting left tackle.

Andrews, who was signed by the Giants on the final day of training camp, got his first career start at left tackle in last week's 41-7 win at Seattle. With center Shaun O'Hara sidelined with a foot injury, coach Tom Coughlin moved left guard Rich Seubert to center and left tackle David Diehl to left guard and inserted Andrews at left tackle. O'Hara may be back this week, but Diehl could be on the shelf for a few weeks after suffering a partially torn hamstring and an injury to a muscle in his hip in the Seattle game. In addition, backup center Adam Koets was placed on injured reserve this week with a torn ACL.

"Shawn played well at left tackle," Coughlin said. "He did a good job and was energetic and enthusiastic about playing. For a guy that had played 17, 18 snaps, he played 79 [against Seattle] and responded very well."

-- Jason Garrett said his first order of business after being named the Cowboys' interim coach is changing the culture on the team, which means the Club Med days of Wade Phillips are supposedly over.

On Wednesday, Garrett made the Cowboys practice in full pads for the first time since training camp. Ordinarily, they practice in shoulder pads and shorts on Wednesdays. The players also are now expected to run from one drill to the next, not walk or jog.

"It'll be how we do things going forward," said Garrett, who is trying to be as big a hard-guy as a coach who went to Princeton can be. "We feel that it's important to practice in pads on Wednesday. It's important to have a great Wednesday in the NFL."

Not quite as important, though, as having a great Sunday.

-- The Eagles appeared to get a huge break 2 weeks ago when the Redskins' dangerous return man, Brandon Banks, suffered a torn meniscus in his knee in the 'Skins' loss to Detroit. Banks had surgery to repair the injury last week and was expected to be out 2 to 3 weeks. But Redskins coach Mike Shanahan told reporters that Banks may play Monday night against the Eagles. Banks is third in the league in punt returns and eighth in kickoff returns. He had a 53-yard punt return against the Eagles in Week 4 that set up the Redskins' first touchdown in their 17-12 win.

"He's working, getting three or four treatments a day," Shanahan said. "He's making strides. We'll probably get a good feeling [today] if there's a chance."

It seems inconceivable that Banks will play on Monday night. But then, it also seemed inconceivable that Shanahan would bench his starting quarterback with less than 2 minutes to go 2 weeks ago.

"A lot has to do with his size," the Redskins coach said of his 5-7, 155-pound return ace. "Not as much weight on the knee. We're keeping our fingers crossed. There is a chance."

2-MINUTE DRILL

FROM THE LIP

-- "The bottom line is you can't keep losing games and saying, 'Hey, we're OK.' Jerry Jones needed to do something but needs to accept responsibility for the state of the Cowboys as well. For years, people have said, 'Jerry Jones the owner needs to fire Jerry Jones the general manager.' That's just not going to happen, so it's pointless to talk about." - Fox analyst and Hall of Fame quarterback Troy Aikman, on the state of his former team

-- "Let's analyze Donovan's career. He was booed before he even was really part of their team, but he didn't take anything personal. And there were a lot of other times where the organization there, I don't want to say chastised him, but he could have taken other things personally, like a lot of guys would have, and he didn't do it." - Redskins defensive end Andre Carter, on teammate Donovan McNabb

BY THE NUMBERS

-- DeSean Jackson clearly has developed a chemistry with Michael Vick. In 15 quarters with Vick at QB, the Eagles' wide receiver has 21 catches, three touchdowns and a 20.6 yards-per-catch average. In the 10 quarters he's been on the field with Kevin Kolb, has just five catches, one TD and a 14.2 yards-per-catch average. Vick's passer rating when he has targeted Jackson is 142.9.

-- For the second straight year, the Eagles have 21 touchdown drives in their first eight games. The difference between this year and last is the type of TD drives they've had. Last year, they were more of a quick-strike offense. Just three of their 21 TD drives in the first eight games were seven plays or more. This year, 11 of 21 have been seven plays or more.

-- Through eight games, 215 of the Eagles' 517 offensive plays, or 41.6 percent, have been run plays. That's the highest run frequency by the Eagles since 2006, when 42.1 percent of their offensive plays were run plays.

-- According to Rick Gosselin, of the Dallas Morning News, there have been 72 in-season coaching changes in the league since 1960. Only 13 of those 72 new coaches managed to win more games than they lost. Three others broke even.

-- Since 2000, 27 teams have reached the midway point of the season with no better than a .500 record and made the playoffs.

-- Michael Vick needs 25 rushing yards against the Redskins Monday night to surpass Steve Young for the second-most rushing yards by a quarterback in NFL history. Young has 4,239 rushing yards. Vick has 4,215. Ex-Eagle Randall Cunningham is first with 4,928.

-- For14 straight seasons the NFL has had at least fiveteams make the playoffs that were not in the postseason the year before. Currently, 14 teams that didn't make the playoffs last year have a .500 record or better.

QUESTION OF THE DAY

How can a Cowboys team that has not one, not two, but three very good running backs, possibly be ranked 31st in the league in rushing? Thirteen running backs in the league have more rushing yards than the Cowboys' total of 605.

THUMBS UP

To NFL Network analyst Jim Mora Sr. for his very justified, on-air nuking of Cowboys cornerback Mike Jenkins. Nobody likes quitters, and that's exactly what Jenkins was last week in the Cowboys' 45-7 loss to the Packers. For whatever reason, he took a pass on trying to make a tackle on Packers wide receiver James Jones on a 10-yard touchdown catch.

"To me, this is high treason," said Mora, who spent 15 years as an NFL head coach with the Saints and Colts and won two USFL titles with the Stars. "If I'm [interim coach] Jason Garrett, the first thing that I'm doing when I take over as the head coach of this team is I'm getting guys like that, I'm taking him and I'm getting him out of my locker room."

Jenkins admitted that he quit on the play, but defended himself by saying he made other plays after that.

THUMBS DOWN

To Carl Cheffers' officiating crew for their flag-happy work in the Eagles' 26-24 win over the Colts last week. Cheffers' crew called 24 penalties for 184 yards, including 14 for 125 yards on the Eagles. The best zebras are the ones you don't notice, but Cheffers' crew seemed determined to affect the outcome of the game.

According to Rick Gosselin, of the Dallas Morning News, Cheffers' crew is tied for fourth among the NFL's 17 officiating crews in penalties called this season with 111. Leading the pack, as he regularly seems to do, is Ed Hochuli and his crew, with 124 called penalties.

DOMO'S RANKINGS

(Last Week's Rankings in Parentheses)

1. Steelers 6-2 (2)

2. Giants 6-2 (3)

3. Ravens 6-3 (4)

4. Packers 6-3 (6)

5. Colts 5-3 (1)

6. Jets 6-2 (7)

7. Saints 6-3 (8)

8. Patriots 6-2 (5)

9. Eagles 5-3 (12)

10. Falcons 7-2 (10)

11. Titans 5-3 (11)

12. Bears 5-3 (13)

13. Raiders 5-4 (18)

14. Chiefs 5-3 (14)

15. Texans 4-4 (9)

16. Dolphins 4-4 (15)

17. Rams 4-4 (19)

18. Bucs 5-3 (16)

19. Redskins 4-4 (17)

20. Vikings 3-5 (22)

21. Lions 2-6 (20)

22. Browns 3-5 (25)

23. Chargers 4-5 (28)

24. 49ers 2-6 (26)

25. Bengals 2-6 (23)

26. Cardinals 3-5 (24)

27. Jaguars 4-4 (27)

28. Seahawks 4-4 (21)

29. Cowboys1-7 (29)

30. Panthers 1-7 (30)

31. Broncos 2-6 (31)

32. Bills 0-8(32)