Michael Vick is set to begin his third year with the Eagles, but this Sunday will actually be the first time since 2006 that he will start on opening day. Obviously he missed 2007 and 2008 in prison, in 2009 he was a third stringer with the Eagles and last year Kevin Kolb got the start in the opener. So now, with a fresh $100 million contract in hand and coming off a pro bowl season, Michael Vick says he's excited to finally be the man again on opening day.
"You know, it's great to have an opportunity to have a starting role again in this league," Vick says. "And I'm excited about it, opening day, it's been a long time. I know the excitement that comes along with it, not only for myself, but my teammates are excited as well. So this is what it's all about."
Last season certainly ended on a sour note with the playoff loss to Green Bay, but Vick says he's grown since then and the team won't be dwelling on the way last year ended.
"I think I've grown tremendously over the last three or four months as far as football is concerned. I had a lot of time to think about the mistakes that I've made, a lot of time to look over everything that needed to be corrected. You know, it all remains to be seen. Experience is the best teacher like I've always said and we have to go out this week and show improvement. So [I] can't dwell on the past, can't dwell on what happened last year, it's all about moving forward."
Finally, he says they're prepared for what the Rams plan to do on defense and certainly aren't taking them lightly.
"They have a lot of guys on that defense who are straight ahead, guys fly around, you know look like their confident in what they're doing. And we're just going to have to attack them and just make sure that we're fundamentally sound in every area of the game and everything's precise. And we're on the road, crowd noise, [so] we have to deal with that. So there's a lot of elements, but good football teams find a way to prevail and we're looking to do that, hopefully we'll do that."