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Struggling Young still has a lot to learn about Eagles system

BETHLEHEM, Pa. - There's no way around it: Vince Young's last two practices have been ugly. On Saturday and Sunday he sprayed errant throws across the Lehigh practice fields, was late to hit open men, put at least one snap on the ground, and even botched a handoff to Ronnie Brown.

Vince Young has not inspired much confidence since joining the Eagles to back up Michael Vick. (Yong Kim/Staff Photographer)
Vince Young has not inspired much confidence since joining the Eagles to back up Michael Vick. (Yong Kim/Staff Photographer)Read more

BETHLEHEM, Pa. - There's no way around it: Vince Young's last two practices have been ugly.

On Saturday and Sunday he sprayed errant throws across the Lehigh practice fields, was late to hit open men, put at least one snap on the ground, and even botched a handoff to Ronnie Brown.

Young, talented and experienced, is supposed to provide insurance in case Michael Vick gets hurt, but so far he has not inspired confidence.

To be fair, these were Young's second and third practices with a new team, and he's working with inexperienced receivers on the second team.

In Young, Eagles coaches see some of the same traits as a passer that they saw in Vick. Like Vick, Young is a supremely talented athlete who was good enough to get by without polishing all of his fundamentals. Like Vick, Young has shown that, in the NFL, athletic ability alone isn't enough.

Also like Vick, when Young arrived in Philadelphia there was an adjustment period. At this time last year, Vick, too, was plagued by inaccuracy at camp, even as his speed returned.

"Vince just recently got on the field. He's in the middle of a learning curve," offensive coordinator Marty Mornhinweg told reporters Saturday. Young, he said, is trying to compress two weeks of learning into a few days.

As they did with Vick, Eagles coaches are working with Young to refine his "throwing platform" - the way he drops back, sets his feet, and bends his knees.

The coaches are largely leaving alone his unorthodox, sidearm throwing style, except for small adjustments in his shoulder alignment. They believe he can succeed without a change there.

"All I can do is take my time and study, and when I get out here on the football field I just got to react," Young said Sunday. "I'm getting some reps, and that's all I can ask. When you're getting reps, that's when you can really just learn from it, go back in, watch the film and learn from it, and come back in the next day and try to perform better than the last day."

Coach Andy Reid heaped praise on Young Sunday, as he often does when a player is obviously struggling.

"He is a competitive son-of-a-gun, and I love it," Reid said. "Does he have everything down? Well, no, but he's got a pretty good grasp of what's going on. What we're asking him to do is like learning French in a couple days."

Mornhinweg and quarterbacks coach Doug Pederson have identified one or two things a day that they want Young to work on.

On Sunday, Pederson and Mornhinweg spent roughly 30 minutes of the afternoon walk-through working exclusively with Vick, Young, Mike Kafka, and the undrafted Jerrod Johnson.

Pederson made calls, and the four quarterbacks, each in black shorts and red jerseys, dropped back in unison, shuffling through the proper footwork for each play. Over and over they dropped back, first working on resetting their feet and shoulders as they moved through their reads, later faking handoffs and then quickly pivoting to a throwing stance as Mornhinweg watched.

The side-by-side work allowed for a stark comparison. Vick moved with sharp precision, quickly getting his feet set. Young appeared to be trying to sync his mind and body as he learned.

Kafka, a second-year player, was in between the two. After playing in the spread offense at Northwestern, Kafka had to learn the Eagles' preferred footwork last year.

"I know what he's going through right now," Kafka said. "I know he's putting in the hard work and preparing himself."

Kafka doesn't come close to Young in physical ability, but with a year in the Eagles system, he is more adept right now in the offense.

Young, however, with his 47 career starts and 30-17 record, is expected to be the No. 2 quarterback on opening day. The Eagles want to refine his passing skills and have a reliable backup. Young wants to earn a chance to be an NFL starter again.

"He's got some specific goals that he wants to accomplish here, and then we've got some specific goals for him," Mornhinweg said. "You combine those two, and then good things could happen for him, I think."

Vick is an example of how a quarterback can evolve. But just because it happened once doesn't necessarily mean it will happen again. Young has five weeks before the Eagles' season opens Sept. 11.

"He has to put an unusual amount of hard work and time into this thing to make this thing work for him and work for our football team," Mornhinweg said.