Mike Vick is ready to compete for the Eagles’ starting job.
As Eagles training camp gets closer to being in full swing, more players are appearing—and talking to the media—each day. Tuesday saw Mike Vick hold court with the press and talking about what will be the hottest topic this summer until the matter is settled—who will be the Philadelphia Eagles starting quarterback heading into the 2013 season.
Vick now says that he’s all about the competition.
“I love the competition. I embrace the competition. I really do. It makes all of us better quarterbacks. It makes all of us better football players. It definitely pushes me.”
Vick went on to comment on the advantages competing will yield for himself and his teammates.
“If you get something handed to you, you could get lax in your approach. If you have it handed to you, you could take things for granted and not put in the work that you need to.”
Since his dynamic debut for the Eagles following the injury of Kevin Kolb in the 2010 season, Vick’s record as a starter has been decidedly disappointing. And he is very aware that fans are still waiting for him remain healthy throughout a season.
“I’ve been doing a lot of curls and a lot of bench presses [during] the offseason, just trying to put my body in the best position possible to withstand the hits.
Everybody says I’m injury prone, so I’m trying to fight that. … You have to stay on the field, and that’s what I’m working on.”
Should he be the starter, let’s hope this fitness regime works as the Great Sliding Experiment of 2012 was a complete failure.
Despite the unfamiliar situation for Vick—not entering camp as the named starter—his trademark confidence remains.
“I’m confident in myself. I’m very confident. That’s the only reason I’m standing here. I believe in me. I know what I can do. I know I’ve got a lot of years left to play this game. As long as I continue to stay in shape and continue to train and … take care of your body and give yourself the maximum opportunity to go out and be the football player that you want to be, then the sky’s the limit for me.”
With his quarterbacks at the NovaCare, Kelly is sticking to his script about the plan for his QBs: The best will ultimately prove himself through his performance and rise to the top. When asked how he will split snaps between Vick and Foles, Kelly said, “I don’t know until a starter emerges.”
When the subject of Barkley entered the conversation, Kelly continued,
“Everybody gets a chance, and everybody has an opportunity to show us what their resume is, and your resume is what you put on tape every day. If somebody continues to make plays and someone doesn’t make plays, that guy is going to move up and the other one’s going to move down.”
As for a timeline of when a starter will be named? Kelly said it will be more than a day before the Birds’ season opening game against the Redskins….but not by much.
“We’ll have a starting quarterback named before we get our game plan in for the Redskins.”
So there’s that.
In other news to get you excited: Pads and hitting will make their debut at practice on Sunday, just in time for the first open practice for fans. Oh yeah.
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Brandyn Campbell of Philly Sports Muse, for War Room Sports
Tags: All's Fair in Sports and War, Brandyn Campbell, Chip Kelly, Football, Matt Barkley, Michael Vick, Mike Vick, NFL, Nick Foles, Philadelphia Eagles, Philly Sports Muse, Sports Talk Radio, The War Room, Training Camp, War Room Sports, Washington Redskins