I was extremely troubled by something Michael Vick said yesterday. Eagles offensive line coach Marty Mornhinweg talked to the media yesterday and he made some statements about how important it was to him for Vick to protect himself in order to avoid injury.
In regards to getting Vick to player a safer brand of football Mornhinweg said “it’s going to be the death of me” to get his starting quarterback to do a better job of protecting himself.
“Just my style of play, I take a lot of hits,” Vick said after being told about Mornhinweg’s comments. “It doesn’t affect me. I get up from it. When I was a young man, I played football in the backyard and got hit probably 6 million times . . . It’s something I’m accustomed to. Me getting knocked to the ground is like me walking. It’s nothing.”
Jeffrey Lurie, Joe Banner, Andy Reid and Mornhinweg should be livid at Vick’s comments. They should not allow Vick to make those comments or play in the reckless manner he’s known for. Vick is damaging the investment they made by giving him the multi-year $80 million dollar deal.
If Vick won’t play safer and protect himself, the Eagles wasted the money they gave him. It was a bad decision as long as he’s getting hurt every year.
His comments are totally selfish and they’re foolish. This team is going nowhere regardless of how much talent they assemble if Vick is going to be getting hurt two or three times each year. This quarterback isn’t going to make any progress and the team is doomed.
“I do think he’s gotten better, but not nearly as good as he needs to be for, first of all, the best interest of the team, and secondly, for the best interest of him,” Mornhinweg said. “So he’s working on that.”
Working on that isn’t good enough. They should demand that he slide or get out of bounds and if he doesn’t do it, they should bench him. Now is the best time to do it, because they will probably be eliminated from the playoffs when they start their game on Sunday afternoon.
If I were coaching this football team, I would sit him down if he refused to play the game the way I wanted him to do it. It’s as simple as that.
I agree G_Man, but it’s very difficult to teach an “Old Dog, New Tricks”
For better or worse, Vick is what he is, which is a high-risk,high reward type of QB which is exciting to watch and difficult for some teams to defend, but in today’s NFL to last for an entire 16 Game Season and Playoffs, He is not consistent enough to lead any Team to a Championship with this reckless style… It appears to me that the Front Office/Coach AR should have thought about this very hard and long before giving him a long-term deal in which is likely to turn out to be a very poor decision and will set this Franchise back a good 2 or 3 Season as some of us have stated previously..
“It doesn’t affect me. I get up from it. When I was a young man, I played football in the backyard and got hit probably 6 million times . . . It’s something I’m accustomed to. Me getting knocked to the ground is like me walking. It’s nothing.”…….but it DOES affect the team whenever you are not on the field becuase of injury….he has a warrior attitude, I get it, but to say that it doesn’t affect him is crazy. Cracked rbs…concussion….those are “affects” from his style of play.
Look, it is a tough league and injuries are part of the game. He is smaller than most if not all on the field (except when DJax is out there)…play with a little less abandon and little more stratedgy and he might last through his whole contract.
Vick selfish???!?!?
WHAT!?!?!
Say it ain’t so.
I, I, I, I, me, me, me, me I, I, I
You want to protect Vick and have him take fewer hits? Put an Offensive Line in front of him where he doesn’t have to run for his life on every play! It’s that simple….
Disagree diverred
How come when VY was QB, he hardly was hit at all.. Were teams not trying to sack him or blitz him..I am not much of a VY fan, but it appears the he slides up in the pocket and releases the ball where as VIck runs out of the pocket and then it’s a broken play and usually ends up getting hit somewhere along the line.. Vick is just to small (height-wise) to play in this Eagles Offense to be able to consistently run this Offense as designed..
He cannot see over the Line of Scrimmage unless he drops back 5-7-8 Stapes therefore taking most the crossing,short,out routes out of the playbook.. WHen he attempts 3 Step Drops, what happens, the balls get deflected,blocked by the DL .. Most teams and DC’s know this and therefore can play off the Recievers a little bit more knowing that most likely the Eagles pass-routes will be intermediate to deep routes which is a big reason the Eagles are not getting the big pass play like last Season..
The short,quick passes will set up the deeper routes, and the Eagles have uised to the short passing game like many teams use their running game..
The biggest problem with Eagles Offense this years is when the struggle with their short passing game, they are not able to set up the deep routes and with Vick getting passes blocked and deflected and the fact that he has an tendancy to hold the ball too long, It’s become obvious that he is not a real good fit for this Eagle Offense or running the WCO due to his lack of discipline,accuracy and just plain getting the ball out of hands quickly..
Addendum (should read):
“Not a good fit for any offence”
Diverrb……But all the oline fault. Totally.
Take a look:
Vick 416 called passes. 19 sacks and 67 scrambles. Vick is sacked or “forced” to run 21% of the time.
VY. 137 called passes. 5 sacks 17 scrambles. VY is sacked or scrambles 17% of the time.
Kafka. 18 called passes. One sack and one scramble. Kafka sacked or scrambles 11% of the time.
Here are 3 guys…all with the same oline. One of them gets sacked or “has” to scramble more than the others. Guess which one.
All the oline. Clearly.
@paulman @ Vinnie thats bullshit!
Yes Vinnie what you just posted clearly backs up the point that you weren’t trying to make! wow VY has been sacked or scrambled 4 percent less, than Vick, fact that he saw way less action than Vick but gets sacked or scrambles only 4% less should tell you something…
You guys simply miss the simple fact that right in your face!!! Teams played the Eagles differently when VY was starting QB….Teams wanted VY to throw the ball and focused more on slowing the run… they didnt come at VY with the house on every other play! Which means less hits! Also being there was only DJAX (no Maclin) I’m sure that didnt work to the defenses advantage at all…
Ummm….Real……math much?
4% less of the times asked to throw, not 4% less overall. You convieniently avoid mentioning that Kafka has been sacked or scrambled on only 11% of his dropbacks…..half of Vick…must be the oline.
How about last year….
KK sacked or scrambled on 30 of 219 dropbacks. 13.5%
MV sacked or scrambled on 134 of 506 dropbacks 26.5%
Get it through your heads. Mike Vick is either bails and scrambles or hold too long and takes sacks at a much higher rate than any other of the Eagles QBs….with the SAME OLINE!!
He is a bad QB. He exposes himself to hits. It is HIS FAULT.
Um Duh! Vinnie…
if you take someone that is asked to do something more than others how can you adequately make comparisons…The point is, if VY was asked to drop back 419 times as you say Vick has, who’s to say that 4% less does not equate to 7% more or even 10% more….math much?
And again…you are forgetting QB’s play against defenses…Defenses play Vick differently than any other QB on the Eagles roster…in fact defenses play Vick different than any other QB in the NFL…what the hell don’t you get? Vick exposes hisself? how about play calling, limiting the hits? how about calling plays where you have short underneath options (not just one option) Again you simply miss the fact of how much a team sport football really is…
How about just getting rid of QB Vick.. Can another QB lead this very QB friendly offense, protect the ball better and lead the teams to TD’s once in the Red-Zone and be a real team leader..I think too many players were in awe of Vick for what he did last Season and came in expecting he can do anything and everything and continually bail the Eagles out of trouble.. Now fast forward to the middle of this Season, and it was obvious that Vick is not Superman, that Football is still and will always be a Team SPort and needs all players to be focused, on the same page and back each other up and not 50 players all doing their own thing.. There was way too much of this in the beginning of the Season and it costs this Team from being a “real team” as opposed to a collection of “good players”… hopefully the lessons were learned (albeit, the hard way for us fans) but it will be interested to see how they play over the last 3 weeks…
Listen Real, If you’d like, I’ll gladly start doing some research on credible math tutors in your town. You need one.
“The point is, if VY was asked to drop back 419 times as you say Vick has, who’s to say that 4% less does not equate to 7% more or even 10% more….math much?”
WTF does that drivel mean? “Who’s to say? I dunno…..trends, patterns, algebra…..Why would 4% less suddenly equate to 7% or 10% more? To be 10% more, he’s be failing on 32% of his pass attempts. An absurd number. The only way his 17% fail rate would “equate” to a 32% fail rate is if VY would radically change his game. In fact, he’s have to be even worse taking sacks about 40% of his last 300 snaps to make up for his 17$ gfail rate over the first 137 dropbacks.
Whatever, this must be very confusing to you. How bout this. Lets look at the last 2 years. Lets combine all three other Eagle QBs and put them up against Vick. Same team, same oline, same coaches, same plays, many of the same opponents.
Vick. 220 sacks or scrambles for 922 dropbacks. 24%
KolKaYoung 54 sacks or scrambles for 374 dropbacks. 14%
If KolKaYoung had the 992 dropbacks Vick had, it is reasonable to assume they’d be sacked or would scramble about 129x. That’s 91 less potential hits for you math tutor required types. And we all know how VIck likes to end his scrambles….just “makin’ a play!” Kabammo.
Face facts Real, your favoutite player does EXACTLY what this article states. He exposes himself to hits because he can’t read plays, doesn’t react properly, etc etc. It is HIS FAULT.
the eagles should have left the offense like it was last year tailored to vick.. like tebow and aaron rodgers. the eagles hardly run any bootlegs..or pass sprint options.. and the eagles have no big recievers the targets are too small.. like burress coleston meechem gronkoski.. cooper is not that guy
Its actually simple Vinnie…Vick doesn’t scramble or get sacked consistently every game…Every game is different…some games he may not get sacked, some games he may scramble 5 times as opposed to 10…Which means give VY or MK more shots YOU DONT KNOW WHAT THEIR TRUE NUMBERS WOULD BE, YOU”RE SPECULATING!! You’re comparison is flawed and the point your trying to make with the above is flawed!
When you strap it up on a football field all 22 players expose themselves to being hit.. some more than others…
Ok so Mike vick is not a good QB…
Is he the best QB on the roster?
What do you suppose they do with Vick ? Trade him, bench him in favor of MK or VY ?
Its not speculating. I don’t speculate. Vick takes hits. More than anyone else.
% Vick is sacked or scrambles his career.
2002 26%
2004 35%
2005 26%
2006 30%
2010 26.5%
2011 21%…..wow! Its his best year! So far!! Lets give him’till the end of the year to grind it back up to his average of 27%……
Average – 27%. LOL!!! Take out the outliers (2004 and 2011) and dude is remarkably consistent. Consistently shit.
Keep rolling Realtalk. Blame coaches. Blame the line. Blams the WRs. Blame the beer vendors. Blame everyone. Blame all except who is responsible.
As for the question about what to do with this broken down, innacurate turnover machine….Well clearly Vick will be around next year due to albatross like salary. But his cap hit won’t be much after next season so he’ll then be cut. Unless they actually think Kafka is a viable starter, the only option is to draft a QB this year 1st round. Rot with Vick next year, and then hope springs anew with someone else in 2013!!
@ Vinnie “Blame all except who is responsible”
Responsible for what ? The Teams record ? or for getting hit and injured ?
In the 4 straight L’s he played good enough for the team to win those games
.and Im not saying he’s played up to expectations either
Your posts seem as if you are SOLEY placing the 5-8 record on Vick…?
Is he responsible for taking some of those hits sure he is..but there are some that were beyond his control as well..
I’m commenting on this artivle which states Vick exposes himself to too many hits and gets injured too much (one of his many problems).
Diverreb, and then Realtalk (you know the remedial math student witht the VT poster on the wall, Rnn Mexico Jersey and signed rookie card under his pillow) both went the Vick apologist route and started blaming Vick’s hits on the usual fallacies (terrible O-line, playcalling, ambient temperature, relative humidity, or anything other reason that avoids the obvious).
I felt it was my responsibility…nay, duty to once again point out that they are incorrect. I am simply proving that Vick takes almost 2x the hits he should, and for the most part, they’re his fault.
As for “he played well enough…..” Clearly, he didn’t.
@Vinnie – hahaha you are corny! you’re a dumbass! plain and simple!
Vick, is a stupid, foolish & selfish person. I said it umpteenth times on here, to all of his sack slurpers, that as soon as he signs his first big contract, he would revert back to his true self. He suckered this incompetent FO & staff, with his say all the right thing attitude, kissing babies, & all of the other BS he spews. He is, was & always will be a great athlete, but a mediocre, losing QB, that makes horrid decisions on & off the field. It’s just a matter of time before the other shoe drops. He is his own worst enemy. Remember, a leopard can’t change his spots. Now we are stuck with alot of wasted $$$, unless we can find a sucker out there. With this current FO, I have no such confidence, that that can & will happen. They will be greedy & ask for too much & be stuck with him.
Vick is stupid. He probably takes more hits than any other quarterback. He is not a good pocket passer and causes many of the hits himself. The Eagles are going to regret the big investment they made in him because he seems to have digressed and gone back to Atlanta Vick. The quarterback whisperer is a fraud. Just one of his many stupid moves which the FO will overlook until the cash flow suffers.