They say the backup quarterback is the most popular guy in town. After a loss, that increases ten fold.
No one’s blaming the Eagles’ disappointing 26-7 defeat at Arizona entirely on Mike Vick. He was under duress all afternoon — getting sacked five times and knocked down 20 more — but the quarterback has struggled.
Vick has been solely responsible for nine of the team’s 12 turnovers this season. So, one day after the debacle in Arizona, it was fair to ask coach Andy Reid if he’d consider putting backup Nick Foles in if Vick can’t eliminate the turnovers.
“Right now we’re with Michael and that’s what we’re doing. We’ll evaluate as we go,” the coach said.
Read that again. It’s not exactly a ringing endorsement. However, Reid dismissed the notion that Foles would see more snaps at practice this week. Of course, turnovers aren’t the only issue.
The Eagles’ offensive line seemed to struggle without King Dunlap and Jason Kelce. And sometimes it looked as if Vick might be holding onto the ball too long, maybe not firing rapidly enough in Reid’s West Coast offense.
“Everybody’s got a little piece of this,” Reid said. “To say that there’s not a play here or there that he might hold the ball too long, I can’t tell you ‘no’ on that and he’d be the first to tell you. That’s not the case every time he throws or gets hit.”
The one thing everyone can agree on is that Vick can’t keep absorbing all these hits. There is no way he’ll survive a 16-game schedule if he keeps getting pummeled every time he drops back.
“I’ll tell you, he’s getting hit way too much,” Reid said. “That’s what I can tell you. At this point, it’s way too much, so that part’s got to end. We’ve got to limit that.”
