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Reid: Michael Vick Will Be Ready For Eagles Opener

Andy Reid confirmed today that Michael Vick will play in the season opener and that if this were the regular season, he would play this week.

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18 Total Updates since August 17, 2012
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Michael Vick Injury: Eagles QB Will Play In Season Opener, Says Andy Reid

Andy Reid confirmed today that Eagles QB Michael Vick will not play again during the preseason, but will be ready to go by the time the season opener rolls around in less than three weeks.

Vick left Monday Night’s game against the Patriots after two series following a vicious hit directly to his midsection. However, x-rays and a later MRI revealed no broken bones or cartilage damage. In fact, Reid said that if this was the regular season, Vick would be playing this week.

As for the hit itself, Reid said this wasn’t example of Vick being reckless or making poor decisions.

"He was trying to make somebody miss, and he wheeled backwards about 15 yards," explained Reid. " He had an available receiver down the field, and he was trying to make a play. To tell him that he can’t make that throw, you’re not going to tell him that. You just want everyone to do their job so that that doesn’t happen back there. It was when he spun around that he got caught with that."

As for how his QB can stay healthy this season?

"He’s got to play. There is a fine line here because he has to continue to play the game. It’s a violent sport where you’re going to get injuries. If you’re out there worried about that part of it, you’re not going to perform to the best of your ability. Then, you have to catch a break here or there. You have to catch a break in a positive way where you’re not absorbing the big hits."

While Vick’s health won’t be an issue heading into the opener, he won’t have had much preseason action. Vick has played just 12 snaps and thrown 7 passes.

Starting in his place will be rookie Nick Foles, who has turned in a pair of superlative performances in his first two preseason games and currently leads the NFL in QB rating. Reid says that in his extended time Monday night, they didn’t pare down the playbook for him at all.

"Well, the one thing we did was we gave him that opportunity this game. We didn’t cut anything back. He had the full load of plays there and it was a good experience for him from this standpoint: that he’s been a starter at the college level, a very successful starter, and then to learn to be a relief pitcher, that’s a learned experience there that you have. So, to get him that experience where you’re not taking any reps, he didn’t take one rep with the ones and really zero reps against the New England Patriots [in practice]. We gave the ones all those reps. But that will be very similar to what he faces during the season in a backup position. You get called on, you’ve got to be ready to step in and fire and drive the team down the field and make plays and do the things that he did a pretty good job of the other night."

The Eagles will face the Browns this Friday.


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Eagles Injury Update: Andy Reid Unsure Of Michael Vick Return For Preseason

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Eagles Vs. Patriots: Nick Foles Staying Humble After 2nd Impressive Showing

Nick Foles made his preseason debut 2 weeks against Pittsburgh and was impressive going 6-10 for 144 yds and 2 TDs. His encore performance last night was even better.

The rookie from Arizona was 18-28 for 217 yds and another pair of TDs in just about 2.5 quarters of work. He had John Gruden signing his praises all night and will likely hear half the callers to Philadelphia sports radio this morning calling him to be the team's starter. Despite the accolades though, Foles says his focus has not changed.

"It's like it always is," he said. "Tomorrow I will go to work, go into the office, get a workout in and study the film, keep working and keep learning. This will be great film to learn from. There's things I can do better. There's a lot of things I can do better. Tomorrow will be a big day to learn. My mindset is to go out and be ready for anything."

Andy Reid credited Foles' comfort level last night to the increased complexity and work QBs are getting in college these days.

"First of all, he threw the ball a little bit in college and college is a little bit more sophisticated than when Donovan (McNabb) came out. I think they are seeing more, particularly from the defenses. They are more aware of the blitz game. So, I think he was better prepared coming in, and then he is a smart kid on top of that - very hard worker, very diligent."

When asked whether Foles could rise to the backup QB job as a result of his performances, Reid wouldn't commit to it, but did say that he will evaluate the position.

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Andy Reid, Cullen Jenkins Brush Off Sideline Spat

One of the most memorable highlights of last night’s Eagles vs Patriots game did not even happen on the field. After the Patriots scored their first touchdown of the night, head coach Andy Reid and DT Cullen Jenkins had themselves a nose to nose screaming match on the bench (see it here).

However, after the game, the two played it off as simply tempers flaring in the heat of the moment.

“It’s football,” said Jenkins. “Football causes that, if you’re out there playing, you’ve got to be emotional. It was nothing. Nothing was addressed. It’s an emotional game and sometimes you need that spark and especially now in the preseason. I’m a real competitive person and when I get out there, I want to win regardless. It wasn’t anything directed at anybody or personal like that. It wasn’t anything about a specific play; it was through the game. We’ve got a short window on where we need to be as a team and we need to come out and I don’t care if it’s preseason or not, we need to play like it. We can’t come out flat.”

“It’s an emotional game, he was fired up, I was fired up,” Reid explained. “Those things happen. Cullen’s my primary leader on the defensive line so, I count on him for a lot of things. He was upset, I was upset, we talked about it afterwards and we are okay.”

Reid even put some of the blame on his outburst on his red hair…

“Listen, it’s an emotional game. I was born with red hair, I know I don’t have much of it now. Sometimes it flares up once in a while. It’s always for the good of the football team.”

Whatever the reason, Andy going nuts may have actually worked. The Eagles defense allowed the Patriots just one first down in the second half.

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Eagles Vs. Patriots: Michael Vick Looking Forward To Playing New England's Defense

The Philadelphia Eagles will get a strong test against Tom Brady and the New England Patriots on Monday night at Gillette Stadium.

Michael Vick is looking forward to the challenge, according to CSNPhilly.com.

"I’m very excited about playing against New England," Vick said. "I’m looking forward to getting out there and playing three quarters, getting into a rhythm, seeing their defense, reacting, and just playing the game and having fun playing the game of football. I’m very excited about that and I can’t wait."

After the starters struggled against the Pittsburgh Steelers in an eventual 24-23 win, Philadelphia still has much to prove in this preseason. None of that is lost on Vick, who wants to see improvements against the defending AFC champs.

"Honestly, we want to go out there and score points," Vick said. "We want to be as precise as we can be with getting in and out of the huddle, the tempo, and just get a feel for where we’re at most importantly.

"I think it’s a good test playing against a good defense. They played in the Super Bowl last year, so we’ll have an opportunity to see where we stand. This is a great game to go out and gauge our performance and see where we’re at."

Vick won't have to wait much longer to find out.

For more on the Eagles, please be sure to check out our blog Bleeding Green Nation and stay on SB Nation Philly for all the latest news and updates.

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Eagles Injury Update: Jason Babin, Mike Kafka Out For Patriots Game

Eagles head coach Andy Reid announced on Saturday that four players have already been ruled out for Monday night's preseason game against the Patriots. Mike Kafka, Riley Cooper, Jason Babin, and Casey Matthews will not be active for Philadelphia's second preseason game, via @EaglesInsider.

Kafka was not expected to play after injuring his hand last week. It provides another opening for rookie Nick Foles to take control of the back-up quarterback position behind Michael Vick. Foles was impressive in the Eagles first preseason game, throwing two long touchdown passes against the Steelers second and third-team secondary.

Babin has been hobbled by a calf injury since the start of camp, while Cooper broke his collarbone in the first week of practice.

Andy Reid said that overall, he's just looking for sharpness from his team.

"You want to sharpen yourself up from the last game is what you want to do," said Reid. "We understand we're still in the preseason, but you want to play good football and we have an opportunity to play a good football team. So, I think if you talk to both coaches, we'd probably tell you the same thing; that we want to play better than we did last week and improve and, at the same time, get the young guys in and that second group in for the latter part of the game."

For more on the Eagles, check out SB Nation blog, Bleeding Green Nation.

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Updating Some Philadelphia Eagles Roster Battles

The Eagles have finished OTAs, mini-camps and even training camp. One preseason game is in the books. We know a lot about this team, but there are still unsettled positions. What jobs are still open?

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