Twitter Mailbag: Have A Little Faith In Kafka

Today, we go directly to the Mothership to start things off. The great Freddie Coleman of ESPN radio fame saw my request for Twitter Mailbag entries, and fired one in.

From @ColemanESPN: Will the O-Line keep people off Michael Vick enough for him to play a full season?

Funny enough, Freddie, my mind has moseyed over to the offensive line as well. With Evan Mathis and Todd Herremans missing practice Thursday we got a peek at a couple backups, and there are some big question marks. Vick appeared less comfortable and was definitely less efficient behind them. Sheil wrote a piece on this very topic and brought up a great point: With Jason Kelce bearing so much more responsibility this year in terms of dictating protections, what happens if he goes down?

Assuming health, I feel pretty good about this group. Howard Mudd is a master sculptor (I still marvel at Kelce’s development and how good Mathis has become), and should be able to make Demetress Bell into a solid left tackle. They’ll hold up their end of the bargain; then it becomes a matter of whether Vick listens to his mom…and his coaches…and his President, and decides to play smart.

I do not feel particularly great about the O-Line depth, however. Could be a trouble spot.

From @philliefan15: all these injuries have anything to do with switching hitting to afternoon? I can’t see a correlation but a LOT of injuries.

Certainly you are not the only one thinking along these lines. From the jump I have expressed concern about changing the real practice to the afternoon. Men that large going that hard in that kind of heat is a dangerous recipe. Are the injuries connected to the switch? I don’t think so. After speaking to some of my colleagues, the consensus is that injuries happen at this kind of rate every year, and every year it feels like there is an unprecedented rash.

While most of these injuries aren’t a direct result of live-hitting, there’s no question that they have forced the coaching staff to scale back the intensity level. Tackling was scheduled for Thursday’s practice but with all the fallen bodies, they decided to make it less physical.

From @TomMcKennaNJ: Is there any chance the Eagles try to land a legit backup QB?

And…

From @Dankel 1414: Why does it seem no one is concerned with lack of quality backup QB with Vick’s injury history? Biggest weakness IMO.

I realize I am on a remote island here, but I have faith in Mike Kafka as a backup quarterback. (Ducks.)

One of Andy Reid’s most obvious mistakes from last season was, after reviewing Kafka’s strong performance against Atlanta, deciding that he was way too conservative in his play-calling and letting it fly against the Giants the next time Kafka came in. There was no need to take the governor off. Let him manage, let him matriculate the ball down the field. No turnovers.

Kafka is intelligent and  his arm strength is improving, as is his understanding of the system. He’ll be a better quarterback than A.J. Feeley. He’ll be able to keep a team afloat during a short-term Vick absence.  I think he’s better than most people realize.

From @dcastro 24: great work on the blog! It’s a must read; comprehensive, informative and honest. Thoroughly enjoyable.

Nothing to add here. Just  a sucker for positive feedback.

In all sincerity, there have been a lot of comments like that, and it is very much appreciated. The only drawback is Kapadia’s head no longer fits through the media trailer door up here at training camp. But at least it lets us know that we’re on the right track.

You can follow Tim McManus on Twitter and email him at tmcmanus@phillymag.com.