Donovan McNabb advised Michael Vick, who received less than a vote of confidence from his head coach last week, to “play pissed off” moving forward. By the sounds of it, Vick will do just that.
“Man, I always play pissed off,” said Vick. “But more so now than [ever].”
The Eagles’ signal-caller was one of the players under Andy Reid‘s microscope during the bye week. After a thorough evaluation, which resulted in the firing of Juan Castillo and promotion of Todd Bowles, Reid decided that Vick would remain his starting quarterback for now.
Vick does not live in a bubble. He knows that his coach did not give him full public support.
“You’ve just got to stand tall,” said Vick. “This is not the first time I’ve been in this situation. I understand the most important thing is for me to go out and continue to do my job, and help this football team the best way I can.”
Vick spent the off week playing with his daughters and reflecting on the first six games of the season, which produced a 3-3 record. He did not receive a phone call from Reid during the week, but the two did have a man-to-man on Monday as practice resumed.
“We talked this morning, spoke this morning about his feelings and thoughts and my feelings and my thoughts about certain things, and we keep that conversation private. But it is what it is,” said Vick.
“I just used the bye week as a time to get away. We’ve all just got to go out and play. I can’t spend time worrying about what coach’s decision is going to be on Sunday. The thing I know is I’m putting everything into each and every game, I’m giving it my all, and that’s all I can do.”
Reid was asked multiple times last week whether Vick would start against Atlanta this Sunday. His response was always prefaced by “As of today…”. It had many wondering whether Reid had seen enough and was ready to go to rookie Nick Foles.
“I think the fact that Mike is still the starting quarterback is your ‘Yes’ right there,” said Jeremy Maclin. ”It doesn’t matter how firm [the coach's words were] or however you want to look at it, Mike is still going to be the guy.”
And if Reid had come to a different decision and picked Foles?
“Man, we’re trying to win ballgames,” said Maclin. “Anything as far as personnel, as far as coaching, any decision made there is just a decision that they thought was necessary. All we can do as players is go out there, do our job and play the game.”
