Reid is holding his cards close on Vick's role

Despite the seriousness of bringing Michael Vick and all his dogfighting baggage to Philadelphia, Eagles coach Andy Reid has, at moments, seemed quietly excited about signing the former Atlanta Falcons quarterback. It's as if Reid has been given the keys to a Corvette and is concocting all sorts of driving expeditions - but doesn't want to say where he is going.

Reid has said Vick is a quarterback, but he has given very few details on how often Vick will get on the field and what role he will play when he does. Quarterback, running back, receiver, or some hybrid all seem possible. Reid might not know what will work, but he surely wants to keep opponents guessing, too.

"I'm not going to sit here and tell you how he's going to contribute, because I'm not naïve to think that the rest of the National Football League's not watching this, and I've got to play those guys," Reid said Friday. "I will say, though, that he will contribute. You can ask defensive coordinators on other teams if they are worried about that."

The first step is having Vick get in top-flight playing shape after two years away, but Reid and Vick were optimistic about that.

"I'm ready to go," said Vick, who was released from a federal prison in May after serving 18 months. "I've maintained, I've stayed in shape, and I've done all the things to keep up my physical physique. It was hard when I was away, but over the last two months I have been able to manage and do things to maintain my weight and my build and, hopefully, my speed."

Vick practiced yesterday for the first time. He can play in the last two preseason games. NFL commissioner Roger Goodell has said Vick's suspension could run through Week 6 of the regular season, but Goodell could let him player sooner.

Reid said again yesterday that Donovan McNabb was the starting quarterback and Kevin Kolb the second-team quarterback, though Kolb is hobbled by a sprained knee. A.J. Feeley is the third-string quarterback, for now at least.

Reid is certainly going to try to find a way to mix Vick – once considered the NFL's most explosive player – into his offense. More than likely, Vick's involvement will come in the Eagles' Wildcat package.

Last season and during camp, wide receiver DeSean Jackson was the Wildcat, lining up in the shotgun with McNabb split wide. Most of the time, Jackson ran with the ball. But there is the option to pass, and that's where Vick comes in.

"Can Michael eventually do that? Sure, he can do that," Reid said yesterday. "Are there other things we can do? Yeah, he can do other things. We'll see how all this works out."

Reid said that he increased his Wildcat package during camp, but not in anticipation of Vick's arrival. His base offense will always be the west coast, but like any good coach, Reid sounds as if he's going to adapt his scheme to the talent at his disposal.

"I kind of like our offense and what we do with the offense we have now," Reid said. "But I think it's a good wrinkle and there are some other things you can do, too, with Michael and Donovan and DeSean. We have a couple guys that can run pretty fast and run the ball pretty good. So, you add all those up and you can have some fun."

Reid's idea of fun could involve some spread formations – he's talked about "spreading people out" - which is what the Wildcat is essentially run out of.

McNabb has downplayed the Wildcat, saying that its popularity won't "last that long." But he has said he has no problem taking several snaps off as Vick does his thing. Still, there are those, like former Eagles quarterback Ron Jaworski, who think replacing the quarterback disrupts continuity.

"Does it add the other dimension you need without breaking up your rhythm?" said Jaworski, now an ESPN analyst. "I'm an ex-quarterback, so I'm a rhythm guy. You have to consider whether changing the quarterback for a few downs will change the tempo for the quarterback, but you have to also question how it will affect the team."

Late in his career, Jaworski went from a full-time quarterback to a part-time one when Eagles coach Buddy Ryan would insert a young Randall Cunningham on long third downs. The experiment wasn't successful and was scrapped when Jaworski got injured in Week 10 of the 1986 season.

"It affected our flow," Jaworski said. "Back then, Buddy said every team in the NFL would eventually be using different quarterbacks. But that obviously never happened. The quarterback position is much as it was then. In the NFL, gadgets don't win."

Reid said that he wouldn't "mess with the flow of the game." He pointed to last season's Wildcat attempts with Jackson. Still, he hinted that he intended to implement Vick, who also ran a version of the west coast offense in Atlanta, in a variety of ways.

On Friday, Giants coach Tom Coughlin was asked if he expected to see a lot of the Wildcat when New York faces one of its NFC East rivals.

"I have no idea what their plans are," Coughlin said. "We play Philadelphia relatively middle and late [in the season], so hopefully we'll have a chance to see what their plan is by then and be prepared for it."

Somewhere Reid is grinning.