Les Bowen: Last season a reminder not to take Cardinals lightly

Last season, nobody defended Michael Vick better than the Arizona Cardinals.

The Cardinals came into Lincoln Financial Field last Nov. 13 as two-touchdown underdogs. They left with a 21-17 victory, after harassing Vick into only 16 completions in 34 attempts for 128 yards and two interceptions, good for a 32.5 passer rating. Afterward, it was discovered that Cards linebacker Daryl Washington broke two of Vick's ribs on the second play of the game.

"Their coordinator [Ray Horton] does a good job of rolling things, coverages and blitzes and so on," Eagles coach Andy Reid said Friday. "We've got to make sure we secure things up and play well. They're efficient offensively, that's what they do, they don't make mistakes."

Vick certainly recalls that game; the day began on the wrong foot, with word that DeSean Jackson had been suspended for missing a special-teams meeting the day before.

"We had a lot of guys out, so they were able to just focus kind of on me," Vick recalled. Jeremy Maclin, who caught only two passes for 6 yards against the Cards, left the game twice with shoulder and hamstring injuries that would keep him out of the next three games. "Not taking anything away from them, because they did a great job - regardless of who's out there, you've still got to get it done."

Vick's top target in that 2011 game was Steve Smith, who caught five passes for 47 yards but also managed to down himself after 19 yards on third-and-20, a play that pretty much typified the Eagles' day. Smith also muffed a punt, which the Eagles recovered.

It's hard to remember now, but the assumption in the wake of that mess was that Jackson would be traded or even allowed to walk into free agency last offseason. But all the bridges weren't burned, after all, it turned out, just singed.

Vick said he is friends with the Cardinals' three-time Pro Bowl defensive tackle, Darnell Dockett.

"He knows I'm comin' to town," Vick said. "He had a good game last year; maybe I gave him too many tickets."

Maclin couldn't quite get back

When Jeremy Maclin reinjured his hip Sunday against the Ravens, blocking for Brent Celek, on the play in which Celek hurdled Ed Reed, the immediate response was to think Maclin wouldn't play this Sunday against Arizona.

Maclin didn't necessarily see it that way. He rehabbed the hip until he could participate in Thursday's practice, at least on a limited basis. Observers started to think he could somehow pull this off. Friday was decision time, though, and Reid, perhaps factoring in that this is Game 3 of a 16-game NFL season, decided not to put Maclin on the charter flight to Phoenix.

Reid said Maclin "didn't really make any improvement" from Thursday to Friday.

"We didn't have him do much yesterday, he didn't really make any improvement, so we're going to give him a week off here, and make sure we get that thing back," Reid said.

Maclin was mostly a decoy last week, but he made an excellent catch for a third-quarter touchdown, on the series before he injured his hip again. The 23-yard TD was Maclin's only catch of the day. For the season, he has eight catches for 119 yards and two touchdowns. Rookie Damaris Johnson, who has two career catches, total, is expected to get a lot more snaps in Maclin's absence, though Reid said the Eagles would be "just mixing and matching, so depending on what we want to do, we've got people moving around a little bit."

Michael Vick said: "Damaris has done a great job in practice, understanding the scheme and what we're trying to get done, so, hopefully, he can step in and fill the void."

Johnson, undrafted after missing his senior season at Tulsa, was asked whether he is nervous.

"No, not really," he said. "Not nervous. I'm really excited."

"It feels good just to be here, just to be in the NFL, just making plays," said Johnson, who will continue as the team's primary punt returner, Reid said. "Just to be a part of the offense, and just to be one of the key guys, one guy that everybody depends on, it just helps me out in the long run."

Maclin did not speak with reporters Friday, but Vick said he spoke with him.

"I talked to Jeremy, I just want him to get back to 100 percent. He wants to be out here, he wants to be a part of this game this weekend, but if his body's not going to allow him to do that, then he can't do it," Vick said. "The most important thing is for him to get healthy."

Wideout Jason Avant noted that the Giants, in their 36-7 Thursday night victory over the Carolina Panthers, got 113 rushing yards and two touchdowns from Andre Brown, filling in for starter Ahmad Bradshaw.

"Every game is going to be different. There's going to be guys stepping in throughout the whole season. There's going to be different times when people go down," Avant said. "We have a lot of capable guys. That's why you go through training camp, so you can get everyone reps and be comfortable with those guys . . . It's a great opportunity."

Also missing Sunday will be left tackle King Dunlap and wideout Riley Cooper, as expected. With Cooper (collarbone) targeting next week's game against the Giants, the Eagles carried only four wideouts to Airzona, though they had until 4 p.m. Saturday to make a practice squad move. That seemed unlikely Friday.

Dunlap (hamstring) said he is "trying to get back next week." He said he hopes Bell plays well, even though they are competing long-term for the same spot.

Birdseed

DeSean Jackson was fined $10,000 by the NFL for throwing a punch against the Ravens and Cullen Jenkins was fined $7,875 for unnecessary roughness. Three Ravens were fined: Ray Rice ($7,875, late hit), Marshal Yanda ($7,875, hit away from the play) and Cary Williams ($10,000, face mask) . . . Stewart Bradley, the former Eagles middle linebacker, has been playing exclusively on special teams for the Cardinals this season . . . Larry Fitzgerald, 29, needs two receptions against the Eagles to become the youngest player in NFL history to get to 700 catches . . . The Eagles last were 3-0 in 2004. For the Cards, it was 1974, in St. Louis.

Contact Les Bowen at bowenl@phillynews.com. Follow him on Twitter @LesBowen. For more Eagles coverage and opinion, read the Daily News'< blog at eagletarian.com.