Vick returns to Atlanta as nothing more than a gadget.


When Michael Vick first signed on with the Philadelphia Eagles, many in the media had this Sunday circled. The Eagles, obviously along with Vick, are heading to Atlanta in an NFC showdown sure to have playoff implications.

But as we all know, playoff implications or not, this was sure to be a favorite game for anyone looking to garner traffic, ratings, or more subscriptions.

How will the fans in Atlanta react when Vick first enters the game? Will Andy Reid add any more wrinkles to Vick's presence in the offense? And most importantly, how will Vick react upon re-entering the Georgia Dome for the first time in over two years?

Quite honestly, there's only one of those questions that even remotely catches my attention, and that's the one in the middle. Will Reid add some new wrinkles for Vick this week? Not because it's against the Falcons, that's just stupid. Reid has never and will never buy into that nonsense.

But with DeSean Jackson sidelined, will Reid look for a playmaking opportunity elsewhere?

I think that he will. We will see more of Vick than we have over the past few games simply because the Eagles have lost a playmaker, so now Reid needs to push someone else into that role.

But instead of just giving more touches to LeSean McCoy, it's almost a certainty that we'll just see a lot more of Vick running, passing, or maybe even running the option a few times.

If it's a way to move the offense down the field, Reid will try it. Like myself, Reid has not lost faith in Vick as a weapon for this offense. He hasn't been very productive this year, but when you figure that he's probably only had about 50 snaps (my rough estimate) this year combined, it adds up to only about one game's worth of playing time.

This is his first year back after a two-year hiatus, so anyone who expected him to look like the old Vick right away was having a pipe dream.

I know I was. His presence in the offense was exciting and new, but now the expectations have been tempered and we see a quarterback who, to put it simply, has not played football in two years, and this is the production you'd expect from a guy like that.

However, I've said it before and I'll say it again: Reid and Marty Mornhinweg are not using him properly. He should be used to get the offense back on track on third down, or when the offense simply is not moving. Put him in, get a spark, and go back to what you were doing.

Putting him in when the offense is rolling messes up Donovan McNabb's rhythm, and the rhythm of the offense as a whole. If Reid doesn't stop using him improperly, McNabb could have something to say about his return next season.

Not because he dislikes him or whatever other nonsense the media has been spouting, but simply because Reid doesn't know how to use him. He's like a kid in a candy store who wants to eat his cookies before dinner.

It's not the candy store's fault, but unfortunately we may not be able to keep the cookies.