Eagles hopeful of Vick being ready for Giants

IT SEEMED pretty clear yesterday that the Eagles feel Michael Vick is on the path to playing this week against the Giants.

But given the unpredictability of concussion recovery, this could be a rocky, twisting path, and there's no way to be sure exactly when you'll reach the end. So Mike Kafka was the Eagles' quarterback when yesterday's practice started, and the possibility remains that Kafka will lead the Birds against the Giants Sunday at Lincoln Financial Field. (Technically, it's also possible Vince Young will be the QB, but that is less likely. Young returned to full practice yesterday from a 3-week hamstring injury. Kafka took the first-team reps.)

Vick participated in yesterday's morning walkthrough, then took the field for the afternoon practice wearing a visor, not a helmet. Light jogging was all he did during the 10-minute period reporters are allowed to watch Wednesday practices. Officially, Vick was listed as not having participated in practice.

Giants coach Tom Coughlin told Philadelphia-area reporters on a conference call yesterday that he will prepare his team to face Vick. "If Michael Vick can play, he will play," Coughlin said.

Between the walkthrough and the practice, Eagles head athletic trainer Rick Burkholder told reporters that Vick's Impact testing Tuesday was close to his normal baseline, and that Vick's concussion symptoms pretty much consisted of a sore neck and jaw. Reid indicated he expects Vick's next Impact test to be normal.

All this seemed to indicate Vick would practice by tomorrow and then play. But Reid and Burkholder stressed that the testing must be completed, Vick must feel good in the wake of exercise, and he still must be cleared by an independent neurologist, something that the Eagles hoped would happen yesterday or today. Last year, the independent neurologist who cleared Kevin Kolb, Stewart Beradley and DeSean Jackson was Dr. William Welch, chief of neurosurgery at Pennsylvania Hospital.

Reid said he would try to "get all three [QBs] ready to go" for Sunday. Burkholder said Vick underwent a required MRI on Monday, which was negative.

"He's right in the middle of this process, right where we expected him to be, and everything's progressing," Burkholder said. "We're not going to push him ahead of where we think the process goes, we're not going to judge it right now."

Reid was asked if he and Burkholder weren't basically saying that Vick would play Sunday. Reid said it isn't that simple.

"Every hour here is an important hour, so you're asking questions for the future, it's hard to give you the future because you want to make sure you do this the right way and go through the process," Reid said. "It's like playing the game, you know, the guys have to go through the process [leading to Sunday]."

Wideout Jason Avant suffered a concussion last year, springing Jackson on the miraculous walkoff punt return for a touchdown that won the Eagles' Dec. 19 game at the Giants. Avant cleared all the testing and played in the next game, which was delayed until Dec. 28 by a snowstorm.

"I don't know," Avant said, when asked if he would have played had the game been played in a week, as scheduled. "I definitely got cleared in time to play for Sunday, but everyone is different."

Avant said having an extra couple of days "definitely does" help.

Then-Eagles guard Max Jean-Gilles also suffered a concussion last season, Nov. 7 against the Colts, and played the next week, 8 days later on Monday night against the Redskins.

Under NFL guidelines, Vick is not permitted to give interviews until he returns to practice, so even though he was in the locker room yesterday, no reporters talked to him.

Predictably, Eagles players said yesterday it wasn't all that difficult preparing to play the Giants without knowing which quarterback would play.

"How long we're going to have to hold our blocks might change," center Jason Kelce said. "Really, our job is to block our assignment until the play is over. When Vick's back there, it's a little bit more hectic, because he's all over the place, he can move, he's more mobile. It might feel a little bit different, but it doesn't change what we do and how we prepare."

Kelce, a rookie, said he was impressed with Kafka's demeanor when Kafka replaced Vick with 2:51 left in the third quarter Sunday night in Atlanta.

"I think he might be one of the few quarterbacks I've ever seen who's a backup coming in and kind of commanding the huddle like he's the starter," Kelce said. "He's been good ever since I've been here - not just in practice but in the preseason."

Avant spent some long, hot mornings with Kafka during the lockout, throwing on a field in South Jersey. Against the Falcons, Kafka completed seven of nine passes for 72 yards, his only incompletions being a fourth-down drop by Jeremy Maclin and a final-play Hail Mary. Reid said the next day that he wished he had trusted Kafka more, hadn't gotten conservative with his play calls.

"I was proud of Mike Kafka [Sunday]," Avant said. "I worked with him this whole offseason, and I know how prepared he was for that moment."

Kafka never got into a game as a rookie last season. Avant learned a lot about him during those lockout workouts this spring and summer.

"I learned that he's dedicated. I learned that he has the ability to make quality throws," Avant said. "You saw a little bit of it this past Sunday."

Kafka said he will prepare the same way whether he's playing or not. But yesterday, he ran the first-team offense for an entire practice for the first time, which he acknowledged was "different, that's for sure."

Kafka said playing well in his emergency role against the Falcons "definitely gives you confidence. Obviously, there are some things we have to get better at."

Does he assume the Giants will want to blitz an inexperienced QB?

"That's what they've shown . . . They're an aggressive defense, and we have to be able to match that," Kafka said.