Vick gets good reaction in Philly debut
PHILADELPHIA — Michael Vick, amid much hoopla and some minor protests, returned to the NFL Thursday night during the Eagles' wild, 33-32 come-from-behind exhibition victory over the Jacksonville Jaguars.
David Akers, who had four field goals, hit a 34-yard field goal with 15 seconds left to give the Eagles the victory.
The most controversial addition in Eagles history, Vick was on the field for a total of five offensive plays that counted and one that was negated by a holding penalty.
"I didn't think it was going to be that positive," Vick said. "I really didn't know what to expect. I was running out there on the field and I was listening to see what the reaction was going to be and I was very pleased. I really didn't expect that reaction, but I was very thankful."
Vick lined up five times in the shotgun formation, ran once, and completed all four of his passes, although only one of the throws was longer than 4 yards.
It only took two plays for coach Andy Reid to send Vick into the game and the crowd at Lincoln Financial Field reacted with more appreciation than condemnation of the quarterback who spent 18 months in a federal prison after being convicted on dogfighting charges.
With the Eagles in a second-and-10 situation, quarterback Donovan McNabb lined up as a wide receiver and Vick took the shotgun snap from center Jamaal Jackson. Vick shoveled a short throw to rookie running back LeSean McCoy for a 4-yard gain. It was the only play of the Eagles' opening series that went for positive yardage.
Vick returned on the second play of the next series, again faked a handoff to McCoy, a ex-Pitt star, then kept the ball for a 1-yard gain before being pulled down by defensive end Derrick Harvey.
Three plays later, Vick lined up as a wide receiver on a running play that was nullified by a holding penalty on tight end Brent Celek.
Vick's best play came near the end of the Eagles' second series when he completed a first-down pass to Baskett that went for 13 yards to the Jacksonville 14-yard line, setting up an eventual field goal by Akers.
The quarterback's debut included two more unspectacular plays on the Eagles' next two offensive series and, in the big scheme, Vick had almost no impact on the outcome of this uneven preseason contest.
McNabb completed 21 of 36 passes for 244 yards and a touchdown, but the bigger concern is that the offense, albeit without star running back Brian Westbrook, continued to have problems near the goal line.
"I think overall we have a lot of things to work on," McNabb said. "There were a couple of mistakes that shouldn't have happened. I think we have to be able to clean that up and get things together when the time comes, because Carolina is right around the corner."
It was a second straight difficult night for McCoy. After managing just 4 yards on five carries in the Eagles' loss at Indianapolis, McCoy had just 31 yards on 11 carries against Jacksonville. He did score on a 4-yard touchdown in the third quarter.
