Michael Vick: The 'Offense Will Dictate When I Run The Ball'
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) – The questions about Michael Vick going into the 2013 season sound similar to the questions about Vick going into the 2012 season. Can Michael Vick stay healthy? Can Michael Vick find a way to prevent turnovers? Both answers have a lot to do with a third question: how much will Michael Vick run the ball in Chip Kelly's offense?
"I can't say I will [run the ball more], I can't say I won't. The offense will dictate when I run the football which is a comfort level for me. It's a lot of balls to go around to everybody. I think our offense allows everyone to get involved with some of the most intriguing plays," Vick told 94WIP's Michael Barkann and Ike Reese. "The run game is gonna allow Shady [LeSean McCoy] to be productive, and all the running backs we have. I think moving all the guys around at the receiver position, with them having to know every position on the field, it's gonna help them out---they can switch spots. It's a very unselfish group and the only thing we want to do at the end of the day is get that W."
Vick, who was named starting quarterback by Kelly after the second preseason game, at times sounded frustrated that he wasn't named the starter sooner. In the end though, he thinks it all worked out for the best.
"I always thought that man fears the unknown. You fear what you can't see and nobody was in the position where they could say I'm the starter at this position, my position is locked and I can come out and coast every day. We didn't know where we stood as far as the depth chart. All we knew we had to do everything right that we were asked to do and go out on the field and be productive and whatever was asked of us, from the small things to the large things, we had to get it done," Vick said. "The thing I found out was that it all paid off. I mean, being out there in 90 degree whether and being hydrated, it allowed me to focus and continue to practice at a high level. My body felt great, everybody felt good, and I think that's why it was so productive."
Vick will go up against a quarterback that many are watching the same way they watched Vick in his early years, Robert Griffin III. An at-times unstoppable combination of speed, mobility, and passing skills, Griffin, if healthy, has quickly become a premier NFL quarterback.
"It's an exciting matchup. Anytime you have opportunity to go against an opponent who has a great quarterback on the other end, it always makes for a great game, it always makes for a great matchup," Vick said. "It's something that you always look forward to, it's like Steve Young and Brett Favre back in the day, or Brett Favre and Troy Aikman and those great games from back in the day that I watched. I was even being competitive for those guys sitting on the couch. I know what's it like, I understand, I embrace it and this is what's it all about. This is when you gotta go out and have fun with it."
