Vick on his health and tipped passes
Eagles quarterback Michael Vick says physically he is “getting better” after returning to the field for the first time after missing three games with broken ribs.
Vick on his health and tipped passes
Daily News staff
Eagles quarterback Michael Vick says physically he is “getting better” after returning to the field for the first time after missing three games with broken ribs.
“It’s been tough the last 3-4 weeks,” Vick told the team’s website. “Last week didn’t make it any better. I’m just trying to stay alive and just trying to be accountable to my teammates and my team.”
The question of Vick’s unwillingness to slide and avoid contact continues to arise.
“I don’t want him to take the big hits,” coach Andy said Monday. “That’s probably stating the obvious. Again, there’s a fine line there of taking away his competitive spirit and edge, and getting him to slide, so I’m sensitive to that. It’s tough with somebody who’s as competitive as him to get him to do that when things are flying around. He believes when he has the ball in his hand that he has the opportunity to score every time. But, I will still hammer home the point about getting yourself down and being smart. There’s a time and a place to step out of bounds, there’s a time and a place to get down, and I figure by the time he’s about 43 I’ll have that figured out for him.”
Vick was wearing padding on his ribs, made by one of his sponsors. He said the padding “got me through the game Sunday.”
“If you break your ribs, it hurts. It takes a while to recover. With any injury, there’s nothing that can protect it other than it being all the way healed. I’ve got to get it all the way healed and keep it protected as much.”
The other issue hindering Vick is the number of tipped passes.
“I don’t know, but this is the first year that I’ve had probably 30 tipped balls in a season,” Vick said. “It’s never happened before and I don’t know where it’s come from. I haven’t changed my game . I haven’t done anything different. Everything’s the same. I don’t know what it is but we have to figure it out.”
He added, “I can’t stop it. I’ve been in this league for 9 years and I’ve never had a season where I’ve had so many tipped balls. I don’t know what it is.”
Without getting into specifics, Reid said there were four tipped balls against Miami. He cited a combination of factors – where Vick threw the ball and penetration from the defense.
“It’s going to happen to the best of quarterbacks every once in a while,” Reid said. “There are times that you do have to move suddenly in the pocket to make throws. I think if you asked Mike he’d tell you he had a couple of those where he could have moved a little bit better, and then if you talked to the offensive line they’d tell you they could have done a better job on a couple of those.”
As for what he wants from the last three games, Vick said, “Playing the game, being smooth, just trying to be flawless -- even though that’s not really what’s been happening -- striving to be the best each and every down on Sunday, making the plays I can make for my team, helping the team, not hurting the team putting us in position to win.”
The Eagles remain alive, barely.
“We’re just fighting to stay alive,” Vick said. “Unfortunately, it’s led to the situation being this way. But I think we are able to overcome. We’re taking it one game at a time and control the things we can control and that’s winning on Sunday. If we can do that, then we better our chances.”
he throws the balls sideways, not over the top. that's one reason(besides his height) why his passes are getting tipped. 2nd reason is he's holding onto the ball for too long. which allows the d-line to time his throws and get deeper penetration making it easier to knock down his passes. and the third is he starting to stare down his recs more often. he's not as bad as mcnabb, but he does it. the 4th is that vick doesn't have physical recs(besides avant). it takes them longer to get off the line and maclin/d-jax are unwilling to over the middle on the shorter crossing routes, forcing vick to hold the ball longer.- This author is consistently reliable! A QB throws by Rotating his torso so of course broken ribs impede his throwing. Romo is different- he throws shovel passes for thousand yard gains, has heart surgery at halftime, etc.— saunhi
- BTW: The dog comments are not factual. He allowed a Gang he grew up with to use a house he owned in their rural VA hometown. They basically did what they pleased and Vick didn't have the sense or nerve to say No to them, so he was convicted of Bankrolling this little backwoods clan.
He has the support of PETA- who is always looking for additional donations. Childfund.org is also an excellent charity. Stop hating and start donating or volunteering!— saunhi - Thank you, but trust they will do neither. — charmaine
- all you haters are pathetic. All you fair weather fans. First you love Vick now you hate Vick. Next year if not this year, you will be jocking him again. And don't you think the dog comments have played out by now. I love dogs too, grew up with dogs, so i wasn't happy either, but you people just go on and on.That's what's wrong with society now. We don't forgive or let things go. Do you teach your children the same thing, hold on to grudges, it's good for the soul.— videoman128
- B W S..not to make light; however, Eagles fans have suffered battered wife syndrome for 8 years...no where to go...so keep-it-up— gogoruch
- Hey Vick.......Your just Trying? Maybe its time to go back to putting on the orange jail suit!— MRD
- The thug is hurt a little bit -- ooohhhh— bucky95
- forget about the racists and the canine freaks. my cmmts are about football and football alone. i supported vick on here big time, and a lot of fans gave him the benefit of the doubt. new system, marty/reid "new work ethic" his story, his age, talent around him, o-line issues last yr/early this season etc. but times up.
-reid deserves all the heat he's getting. but if our qb plays smarter and less reckless the eagles are leading the nfc east.
-can't blame the injury vs the cards on him. but how about the one vs the skins last yr? it was earky enough in the cards game for the eagles to win that game with a different qb or least a vick with a pain shot. him keeping quiet wasn't tough. it was stupid. the injury got worse and now look were we are. and is 1st game he does it all over again. very frustrating as a fan not knowing if the qb will make it through a game because he won't slide or throw the ball away. - All the negative energy a lot of the fans bring toward the Eagles does not help. Why should the team win when the fans curse them and yell nasty words at them as they play. A loyal Eagle fan should do his/her part during the game and let the energy of the crowd and team provide the wins. Together we all create the reality that we expect. If you cannot be a help to the team, stay home and read a book.— denjamr
