It was a Saturday October 2nd and Michael Vick was doing an autograph signing. His head coach Andy Reid wasn’t happy about Vick doing the signing on a Saturday because he was the team’s starting quarterback and they had a huge game the next day against the Washington Redskins.
Reid was texting Vick every other minute to let him know that he didn’t like the fact that he was doing this autograph session on the day before the game. Later in the season when Vick received requests to make appearances he thought about that all those texts and calls on that Saturday afternoon.
Fans and other media members have no idea about how close the relationship Reid forms with his starting quarterback. He had this type of relationship with Donovan McNabb. They talked all the time. It was like husband and wife talk all the time type of thing, which means communicating all the time day and night.
His relationship with Vick seems to be even closer. In some strange way, Reid is making up for the problems he had with his sons by being a great father to Vick. Vick has a security blanket both on and off the field in his relationship with Reid.
Their relationship is much more than coach and player. Of course everyone knows about the unique situation that Vick is in. He’s on probation and any mistake in his behavior could not only hurt the team, but it could also land him back in jail. Reid’s habit of getting ultra-close with his starting quarterback was going to push them closer together once Reid named him the starter, but it increased because of Vick’s unique situation.
You can decipher that from Vick’s comments on 610-WIP on Monday when was asked whether he could perform as well under a different coach.
“It’s funny because I thought about that last week,” Vick told the radio audience. “Honestly, I really don’t think so. The way he stays on top of you is like having a dad on you every day. There’s really no margin for error, we’ve got an open and honest relationship, and me not wanting to disappoint him and what he demands of the quarterback position. And I told him [Monday] when we were talking, he just has a way of bringing out the best in me. I don’t know what it is, but he does it. And I’m grateful for that and I’m thankful. And I think that’s the big reason to why I had the success that I had this year.”
In some ways I have felt that Reid’s closeness with McNabb helped him early in his career but hurt him later on. Throughout the years McNabb was here, players would tell me that Reid didn’t admonish him in the same manner he would do to the other players. Behind his back some players referred to McNabb and Donovan Reid.
McNabb would start clowning around at practice when the offense finished their reps and the defense was working. If Reid thought it was distracting other players, he would send then offense coordinator Brad Childress or quarterback coach Pat Shurmur to reprimand McNabb. He would never do it himself.
If McNabb played poorly Reid wouldn’t ever call him out. In addition, Reid was accused by some of not focusing on the flaws in McNabb’s game. I don’t know if that’s true but we all know that McNabb never improved his accuracy problems or shortcomings in his dealing with the local media.
The former number two pick in the draft also decided to stop scrambling on his own without Reid weighing in on it. He let McNabb take away one of the key weapons in the offense on his own. Was McNabb running the team or was Reid running the team?
Number 5 seemed to get to a place where he was above being challenged by his head coach. It seems that Reid has corrected that flaw with Vick, at least right now. A few weeks ago, the star quarterback talked publicly about being chastised by Reid in front of his teammates.
That will be something to keep an eye on. We know that the Reid-Vick relationship will get closer and closer over time, but it must never get to the point where Vick is above being called on the carpet if he doesn’t play well. He’s also got plenty of room for growth in his game. He’s got to improve in his recognition of and adjustments to the blitz. That is a must this off season.
This is the difference between Green Bay and the Eagles. After nearly getting Rodgers killed, they began to call plays differently.
drummerwinslow says:
October 13, 2010 at 5:05 am
ANDY REID’S TWIN – UNBELIEVABLE!!!!!
If you saw any of Green Bay’s 16-13 loss at Washington, you saw an offense that would make Graham Harrell and Colt Brennan jump in the air like Rocky and Apollo did in the ocean. The Packers spread the field and threw … and threw … and threw.
By game’s end, they had called 53 pass plays and only 14 runs. While Rodgers threw for almost 300 yards, calling a pass on 53 out of 67 plays has its downside:
a) The offense is slightly one-dimensional. The dudes out in front of Abercrombie have more layers than that.
b) No time is burned off the clock when protecting a lead (Green Bay led by at least a touchdown for a good portion of the second half).
c)The quarterback is susceptible to getting killed.
Let’s start with the last point. Rodgers is tough, but passing or attempting to pass on nearly every down has its risks. That risk was realized on Sunday when Rodgers suffered a concussion late in the game on a helmet-to-helmet hit.
Quarterbacks don’t suffer helmet-to-helmet blows, much less injuries, when they hand off the ball. Brett Favre might get tennis elbow from one of those ridiculous throwing fakes on running plays, but that’s about it.
The other thing injured from constantly passing was Green Bay’s chance of winning, which brings us to the first two points. Due to the one-dimensional attack, the Packers only scored 13 points against a defense they should’ve riddled for twice that many. Personnel-wise, Jim Haslett’s defensive unit doesn’t match up against McCarthy’s offense. Even without running back Ryan Grant, Green Bay had favorable matchups running the ball; Washington was constantly spread out trying to defend the pass, and Albert Haynesworth, the team’s best defensive lineman (in theory), wasn’t playing.
And still, the Packers had a comfortable 13-3 lead when they took over the ball with 6:42 left in the third quarter. Time to run some clock. So what did McCarthy order up on the next two series with a two-score advantage? Seven passes, three runs. One of those passes came on a third-and-1.
Let’s review: 10-point second-half lead, third-and-1, on the road … and they pass the ball! They had to stay on the ground in that situation. Why? Even if they don’t get the first down, more clock gets chewed in the process of running the ball.
It wasn’t just during the second half that McCarthy abandoned the run. The Packers ran Brandon Jackson out of a three-receiver set on their third offensive play of the game. Jackson, starting in place of the injured Grant, navigated his way through the front line maelstrom, made a brilliant cut, and wasn’t caught until he was 71 yards down the field. Jackson’s scamper led to Green Bay’s only touchdown.
So how many times did Jackson get to run the ball the rest of the half after getting 71 yards on his first carry? Two — two! In fact, the drive after his big run the Packers ran six plays: Pass, pass, pass, pass, pass, punt.
Fox analyst Troy Aikman said during the broadcast that McCarthy had mentioned in a pregame production meeting that “we want to maintain some type of balance,” and he didn’t want to go through another season where his quarterback got hit all the time (Green Bay allowed the most sacks in the NFL in 2009 with 51). That’s what makes McCarthy’s play-calling in this particular game all the more puzzling, because maintaining any type of balance is precisely what the Packers didn’t do.
Where would Green Bay if they had continued calling plays as they did against the Redskins?
In which hospital would Rodgers have been admitted?
So when TO called out McNabb and was let go, was it Reid or McNabb who forced that to happen?
It was McNabb.. I remember Reid being on the fence as to whether to let TO go or bring him back… I remember hearing that Reid called McNabb about it and McNabb gave the thumbs down to idea of TO coming back and that what they went with
You all know that I charted plays during the season, and since about 12:00 minutes into the 2nd quarter of the Titans game (with Kolb as his QB), Reid has fallen into a passing frenzy unequalled in the history of the NFL.
After his first 15 scripted plays, Reid has called passing plays no less than 77% of the the time and as much as 93% of the time (averaging 88% of the time). These numbers exclude the 2nd Dallas game and the Green Bay game (which I haven’t charted yet.)
Why did McCarthy change his play-calling and why did Rodgers fail so miserably?
More importantly, after 12 years, why does Andy remain unchanged?
Whether it was McNabb or not, Reid was the enabler. Maybe he has learned from that mistake and learned that he has to treat the QB (for the mart part) like the other players. I hope he does continue to do so. I want my coach to get on my QB sometimes when they aren’t doing things right. If he didn’t do that to McNabb how can you blame McNabb? It’s like a child who has never been disciplined by his parents. How can you really be upset if that child is spoiled and gets away with everything when their parent doesn’t discipline them? Same thing here.
Here’s my question, what was Reid’s relationship with Kolb like once McNabb was traded? Was he constantly texting and talking to him as well or was he secretly still talking to Vick all the time? If the relationship is like a marriage was Reid in fact cheating on Kolb the entire time? Hmmmmmmm