Michael Vick‘s thumb still looked a little swollen Saturday as he exited the Varsity House following the morning walkthrough, and was squeezing a Play-Doh-like compound to help get the soreness out. In terms of the injuries the quarterback has endured over his nine-plus seasons in the NFL, though, this one barely registers.

“This injury is really in the way right now. It’s petty,” said Vick, who intends to practice Saturday afternoon. “There’s a little soreness that I have, but this is the type of injury I’ve been dealing with throughout my career, so it’s really minor.”

Eagles backup quarterback Mike Kafka fractured his left hand during Thursday night’s preseason game against the Steelers and will not be back at full strength for two-to-three weeks, Andy Reid said today.

“What you’ll see from him, he’ll come out to practice… everything where he doesn’t have to take a snap, he’ll be able to do,” Reid said. “So the 7-on-7, some of the individual work, he’ll do.”

Kafka suffered the injury when he had his hand stepped on in the second quarter.

In the meantime, rookie Nick Foles is your backup quarterback.

Demetress Bell said he received no explanation. And King Dunlap didn’t find out until Howard Mudd waved him in at this morning’s walkthrough. But there has been a shift at one of the most important positions in football, at least for now.

Dunlap worked with the first team at left tackle Saturday morning, and Andy Reid suggested the switch will last the entire week.

From Demetress Bell to Bryce Brown, here’s a player-by-player breakdown of the Eagles’ offense against the Steelers, after having re-watched the game.

On Michael Vick’s second drop-back of the preseason, he was sacked by Steelers defensive tackle Steve McLendon, who threw him to the ground.

On his fifth drop-back, Vick felt pressure from his front side, stepped up in the pocket, let go of the ball and slammed his thumb against Jason Kelce’s helmet.

A reasonable question to ask is: Why was Vick so close to Kelce when he released the football?

Here is my player-by-player review of the Eagles defensive backs after having re-watched Thursday night’s preseason game against the Steelers.

The Eagles defensive line was as disruptive as advertised, even without starters Trent Cole and Jason Babin. Unless you’re riding the Nick Foles wave, Jim Washburn’s unit was the source of comfort in an up-and-down preseason win over the Steelers.

There is one small issue to address.

“We’ve got tons of guys,” said Darryl Tapp.

They really do. Especially at defensive end. Cullen Jenkins started the game on the outside along with Tapp. Brandon Graham and Phillip Hunt were the next tandem in, and Vinny Curry followed.

The thing is, they all performed.

Here’s my player-by-player look at the Eagles linebackers after having re-watched their game against the Steelers.

If you were expecting Mychal Kendricks to look like a Pro Bowler in his first game action in the NFL, you were disappointed. If you wanted to see him show flashes of the player the Birds hope he eventually becomes, well, you got that.

The way Damaris Johnson tells it, there was no discussion. Someone just yelled at him to get on the field, and so, that’s what he did.

“It wasn’t really a conversation,” Johnson said with a laugh. “The crazy thing is I was on the sideline and the first group was in. They called me off the sideline, so I didn’t really know. I kind of went in the game late.”

There is a new hero in Philadelphia. And his name is Nick Foles. Usually the backup quarterback is the most popular man in Philly. But […]

Before the game several members of the Steelers organization, including Dan and Art Rooney and Mike Tomlin, came to the Eagles locker room to offer Reid their condolences. It was a big gesture, but not the biggest of the night.

With about four minutes remaining in the first quarter, a message from the Reids appeared on the Jumbotron thanking the fans for their support. This time a cheer was in order, followed by chants of simply, “Andy! Andy!”

“I did [hear them],” said Reid. “I take that as a compliment to my son and my family. That’s a humbling thing. I appreciate every bit of it. We feel the love. And during these kind of times that’s important.”

When Michael Vick raced off the field and towards the sidelines, he feared the worst.

Coming off a season in which he missed three games completely and failed to finish two others, Vick has been fielding questions about his health for months now. So when he stepped up in the pocket, targeted Clay Harbor and banged his hand against Jason Kelce’s helmet, worry started to creep in.

From Jaiquawn Jarrett’s struggles to Nick Foles’ arm, here are instant observations from Thursday night’s Eagles-Steelers preseason game.

Join us for a live chat during Thursday night’s Eagles-Steelers preseason game. The action gets under way at 7:30 p.m.

Twitter Mailbag, Game Day Edition. That felt good to write. With some (quasi) real football about to be played, we look at some roster battles and camp standouts while tackling the all-important question: Is this the year the Eagles hoist the Lombardi?

But we start off with a question from none other than Kyle Scott of Crossing Broad, who inquires about his favorite subject/target, D-Jac.