Michael Vick Needs To Take The Michael Jordan Approach

I stood on the sideline at the beginning of the Eagles practice and observed Michael Vick and the Birds offense going through their daily individual drills. All I could see were weapons all over the place. I’m not talking about guns and bombs I’m talking about targets for Michael Vick to get the ball to.

This football team has weapons galore. You’ve got the speedy one in DeSean Jackson, along with the big and speedy one Jeremy Maclin. They’ve got a Pro Bowl wide receiver in Steve Smith on the bench. Did I mention Jason Avant or Brent Celek?

This is an outstanding group of running back led by LeSean McCoy. Ronnie Brown is an outstanding back and the rookie Dion Lewis isn’t bad either.

They’re led by Vick of course and that brings me to the mindset I think he should adopt. It’s the Michael Jordan mindset or approach. Early in Jordan’s career he scored 63 points in a playoff game against Larry Bird and the Celtics because he didn’t have much help on the team at that time. He had to carry the team all the time by looking to score every time down the floor.

As Scottie Pippen and Horace Grant developed and they added talent, Jordan started every game trying to get the other guys some easy points. He made sure to get them involved. His main goal at the start of every game was to create scoring opportunities for Toni Kukoc, B.J. Armstrong, John Paxton or Dennis Rodman.

He knew if his teammates got going offensively and put some points on the board, “It Was A Wrap”, meaning there was little chance they would lose the game because he was confident he could always get his. At any point when he wanted Jordan knew he could take over a game.

There were some games in which he teammates couldn’t do anything. It was in those games when he would pull out the Superman cape and take over by scoring 40 or 50 points. He wouldn’t start the game with cape on but he would keep it nearby in case he needed to use it.

Each time down the floor, Jordan would merely run the offense until they got in trouble and the 24 second clock was running out. Then Jordan would go get the ball and take over. He only took out the cape when he had to.

This must be Michael Vick strategy going forward. He should start every game with a mentality that he’s going to merely run the offense from the pocket. Vick should be looking to get the ball into the hands of LeSean McCoy and Brent Celek on short routes, if he gets some pressure in his face.

He should be focusing on getting the ball out of his hands into the hands of his teammates early on. Don’t take out the cape out unless it’s necessary.

Vick should only take over a game by running the ball, if he has to do so. It was needed last year in the Giants game. He had no choice, so out comes the cape.

Early in Vick’s career he was take off and run at the drop of a hat. He doesn’t need to do that any more. At the beginning of Jordan’s career he would dunk every chance he got. He would score in a fantastic manner rather take the easiest route.

During the Bulls championship run, Jordan learned to take the easiest route to two points. Vick must learn the same lesson. Save the spectacular and heroics for times when it is needed. When it’s not needed keep it wrapped up and let your teammates help you.