Posted on 10/20/2006 3:21:14 AM PDT by mainepatsfan
Battered Vick questions role after Falcons loss
ESPN.com news services
Falcons quarterback Michael Vick is beat up and sounds a little fed up after last Sunday's 27-14 loss to the Giants.
Vick returned to practice on Thursday after missing Wednesday's session with a sore shoulder, according to a report in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
The newspaper said the quarterback taped a session of Inside the NFL for HBO and told host Cris Carter that getting sacked a career-high seven times by the Giants got to him.
"It's the worst I ever felt," Vick told Carter.
During the interview, Vick blamed the game plan for the beating the Falcons took.
"You've got to throw the ball sometimes," Vick said. "You can't just line up and run the ball every time on first and second down. Teams key in on that and they have coaches, too. We're going to have to throw it more ... Coach [Jim Mora] is going have to trust in me to get it done and I'm up to the challenge to get it done."
Carter asked Vick if his old coach, Dan Reeves, was better for his game.
Vick answered: "When Reeves was here, I was 50 yards shy of 3,000 yards passing, and I was among top 15 in passing in NFL. Coach Reeves, he believed in me and gave me a chance to throw the football."
The frustrated quarterback didn't stop at questioning the coaching staff. He also wondered if he'd be better off with different teammates, specifically at wide receiver.
Carter threw out names like Chad Johnson and Randy Moss, and Vick said, "Or a Marvin Harrison. ... I always think about that, Cris. I always think, if I played in Indianapolis, what type of effect would I have on that team? Or what would I be able to do different? It's something I wish I could do for just one week."
Sacked 7 times!
That's one stat you really never expect to see next to Vick's name.
Michael, Michael, Michael. If you believe you need to throw the ball more, why don't you learn the WR position and let Matt Schaub become the starting QB?
My "What are the Panthers afraid of, Vick throwing the ball?" joke is relevant again.
If they do figure it out, it'll be way too late. The Falcons really should trade Vick while he's hot.
Actually I was referring to Carolina figuring out how to defend him. Their pass rushers play him like he's a pocket QB that they can chase down which they can't. The teams that shut him down have their pass rushers maintain lane discipline and surround him.
Gotcha. Sorry about the confusion. Still pretty early, even though I woke up at 2AM.
Vick went on Inside the NFL and said that his passing deficiencies are due to bad receivers, not any lack of skill on his part. This guy would fit right in with the Raiders.
:) PaMom
That's the Falcons' problem: Vick is their draw, instead of the extreme likelihood of a victory. Well, if that's what they want, hey, who am I to criticize? Not like my team is winning this year, and the Packers game isn't a gimme.
Hey, with that contract, I'd be plenty happy being A-Rod.
I still say Vick would work as a Raider.
He would sell even more Raider jerseys than Moss has.
Not to mention that Moss might be able to catch his passes.
The league would like to see Moss get out of that black hole.
Atlanta is also a very fickle town when it comes to their teams, with many fans showing up just to see and be seen. Unless they're winning, people stay home.
Vick just pulled a perfect TO, undermining his coaches, his teammates and blamed everybody else for the fact that he's just an average QB. It didn't take long for opposing teams to stack the box and dare him to throw. If I were the owner and GM, I'd be thinking real hard about trading him after the season, and Alice Davis is just dumb enough to trade the house for him.
I actually do think receivers these days aren't as good at catching, maybe they don't work hard enough at it, but a lot of them have trouble catching passes thrown by left-handed quarterbacks because the spin is wrong and the ball moves the "wrong" direction so if they take their eye off it it ends up a couple inches different from where they are used to.
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