Vick takes field, and some ribbing

With a few protesters outside the gates of the NovaCare Complex yesterday, all eyes and cameras inside remained focused on Michael Vick even though he did little more than watch a good portion of his first practice with the Eagles.

Vick participated in individual drills and made a brief appearance in a seven-on-seven drill, but when the Eagles ran their noncontact team scrimmages, Vick remained a spectator until coach Andy Reid finally allowed the three-time Pro Bowl quarterback to run the third-team offense for the final four plays of the two-hour practice.

The brief but entertaining sequence started with the strangest of connections when Vick, who lined up in the shotgun formation for all four snaps, found rookie tight end Rob Myers for a short completion. Seven days earlier, neither player was even in the Eagles' camp at Lehigh University.

After Vick completed a short screen to running back Eldra Buckley, the quarterback's new teammates started sending out requests from the sidelines.

"Take off one time - just one time, please!" linebacker Omar Gaither screamed, hoping for a trademark Vick gallop down the field.

Cornerback Asante Samuel, who never seems to stop talking on the practice field, made a similar plea.

"We all wanted to see him do it," safety Quintin Mikell said. "We were like, 'OK, is he going to do it this play?' He never did it. I know he's got it in him. I'm sure once he gets more comfortable we'll see it."

Instead, Vick went to the line of scrimmage and was called back to the huddle by offensive coordinator Marty Mornhinweg because somebody was lined up wrong. Vick's third throw, to Eugene Bright, was knocked out of the rookie tight end's hands by linebacker Tank Daniels.

The quarterback's final throw was a little behind receiver Danny Amendola and fell incomplete. The practice horn sounded with the welcome announcement that the session was over.

But it wasn't over for Vick. After the majority of his teammates left the field, he remained behind to work with Mornhinweg and quarterbacks coach James Urban, both of whom were in constant communication with Vick during the practice. After a few 30-yard passes into the end zone to receivers Jeremy Maclin and Jason Avant, Vick sprinted off the field.

"Showtime?" a reporter yelled at Vick.

"Showtime," he echoed from behind the darkened visor on his shiny new Eagles helmet.

"How did you feel?" another reporter asked.

"Great," Vick said.

Other Eagles also seemed excited by the show of Vick's practicing for the first time since he prepared for a New Year's Eve game against the Eagles while still with the Atlanta Falcons in 2006.

"Yeah, it was cool," Mikell said. "It's like having a little star power. He has been one of the great, great players for a while and he's back, so it's good to see him out there having some fun. He looked good, too, so that doesn't hurt."

Vick worked exclusively at quarterback, and Reid reiterated that he considered him a quarterback.

"That's what Michael is," the Eagles' coach said. "I'm not trying to hide that from you. We move people around every once in a while, but Michael is a quarterback."

It's no secret that Reid, at some point, will use Vick in the Wildcat formation, which became so popular in the NFL last season, but there was no evidence of that yesterday.

Vick spent 18 months in federal prison after pleading guilty in a dogfighting case. The protesters for animal rights outside the NovaCare Complex gates were part of what drew a larger media crowd yesterday. Vick's new teammates didn't seem to mind the extra attention and scrutiny as they returned to work following their first preseason game.

"I think having him out there did something for everybody," fullback Leonard Weaver said. "We're excited for Mike in a number of ways. I think we're mostly excited about the opportunity for him and the playmaking ability he's going to bring to the offense as well."

When Vick made a brief appearance in the locker room after practice, a team spokesman made it clear that the quarterback would not be talking, but that didn't stop the cameras and eyes from focusing on his locker. It also didn't stop Vick from talking.

"This is weird," he said.

It was definitely different.