Eagles' Vick wants his 'swag' back

MOVE ALONG, folks. Nothing to see here.

Officer Andy tried to shoo the crowd away Thursday from the bloody crime scene left by his team's 30-17 Sunday loss to the Atlanta Falcons.

Change quarterbacks? The Eagles' coach said he was never going to change quarterbacks. All a big misunderstanding, one that somehow managed to exert a 3-day grip on the region only slightly less overwhelming than the shadow of Hurricane Sandy.

"There's a time and a place when you're upset, and I was upset after the game," Reid said Thursday, attempting to explain what he'd meant Sunday, when Reid said he was going to evaluate everything, including quarterbacking. "Not at Michael Vick. I was upset, starting with myself not getting my team ready to play, and working from there. But I've learned to step back and evaluate, so that was my point to you. My point wasn't that I was gonna bench Michael Vick, it was that I needed to step back and evaluate before I came to you with something."

Reid eventually issued a statement Wednesday clarifying that Vick was still the QB.

"I mentioned to you [Wednesday] that Michael was the quarterback, is the quarterback and will continue to be the quarterback of the Philadelphia Eagles," Reid said, chuckling slightly. "I can't make it any more clear than that."

There was no misunderstanding the sense of urgency that gripped NovaCare on Thursday as the Eagles began to prepare for Monday's visit to New Orleans. Vick, who seemingly thought his job was in jeopardy in the aftermath of Sunday's game, convened a Wednesday players-only meeting to try to get the 3-4 team back on track.

"Anything that guys had to get off their chests, they did," said running back LeSean McCoy, who had said Sunday the team didn't show "enough pride, enough heart" in the Atlanta loss. "It was good to hear different guys that don't normally talk at all speak up and talk and put their two cents in. I feel like we're all on the same page. That was what the meeting was really about . . . I don't see [problems like what he outlined Sunday] . . . I feel like the attitude is in the right direction, very positive. I don't think we'll have a performance like we did last week."

Perhaps even more essential was dialogue between Reid and Vick, in which Reid apparently tried to reassure his QB that the coach had his back.

"We had real good conversations and talked about some things we both needed to discuss, and that was that," Vick said.

All the talk of evaluating, over the past several weeks, as Vick has struggled to eight interceptions and five lost fumbles, seems to have helped turn Vick into the guy DeSean Jackson on Tuesday said did not seem comfortable in the offense.

"It does tend to bother you" when there is weekly speculation about your job, Vick acknowledged. "I have emotions, just like everybody else. It's not like you can just block certain things out sometimes. You want to have the comfort level, you want to know that everything is going to be what it's going to be . . . when you've got that type of support, it's easy to go out and try to make it all work. I kind of let it get to me, to be honest. I've always been that way. Now [after meeting with Reid] it's a totally different feel for me, and I'm ready to go."

Reid blamed delays in addressing reporters caused by the hurricane for the lingering perception that Vick's job was hanging in the balance. He said there would be no week-to-week reassessment of the situation.

Rookie Nick Foles, the choice of many fans to replace Vick, said he made sure not to watch or read anything having to do with the Eagles' quarterbacking this week. He said friends and family did call, but they know not to ask about football. "They were more just worried about well-being, is everybody safe up there?" after the hurricane, he said.

It isn't clear Reid and Vick took the same lesson from the Atlanta loss.

"When I watched the tape from Sunday, I just thought I didn't play aggressive enough," Vick said. "There's a lot to learn from on that film. Probably more so than any other loss we've had all season."

"I'm very comfortable with this offense," Vick said. "It's just when certain things are going on sometimes, I'm only human, just like everybody else. I think I was just trying to cater to certain things, trying to be what everybody wanted me to be . . . I gotta get my swag back, get back to playing football the way I love to play it."

The Atlanta game was only the second time all season Vick didn't turn the ball over. Reid seemed to be under the impression this was a good thing, swag or no swag.

"Honestly, Michael played, I thought, one of his better games," Reid said. Vick completed 21 of 35 passes for 191 yards, a touchdown, and an 84.3 passer rating. "He takes a lot of responsibility on himself. He knows that I'm on board . . . He is the leader of the team. He understands that."

Asked about the apparent contradiction in their views of Vick's performance, Vick said: "It was efficient, but we like to go downfield, to attack. Our offensive personality is being aggressive, picking and choosing our spots and making plays that we know we can make. I just felt like, certain scenarios, I kept it conservative . . . just tried to take what they gave me. We fell behind early, so it wasn't the time for that. The mindset has to change."

Later, Vick said: "I'm trying to protect the football, I'm trying not to make a mistake, and that's not me . . . I have to go play lights out. I have to go play the game and leave it all on the field."

This week, Vick faces a New Orleans defense that ranks last in the NFL, by a hefty margin. It allowed 530 yards in a 34-14 loss to the Broncos and Peyton Manning at Denver last week.

The 2-5 Saints are the only NFL team that has allowed at least 24 points in every game this season.