Since taking over for Kevin Kolb in the second-half of last year's regular-season opener against the Green Bay Packers, Michael Vick has been marvelous. In last Thursday's preseason game against the Pittsburgh Steelers, he simply didn't play up to that level. Now he's looking to bounce back in what will likely be his last game before suiting up to face the Rams on September 11.
"I absolutely feel the need to redeem myself," Vick said following Tuesday's practice. "As a competitor and as a player you always want to go out and put on a great performance. And you're able to go back and look at the film and you know why certain things happened the way they happened and what could have been done differently. And like I said last week, that's a positive. I know why I made the mistakes that I made and how I can correct them.
"I learned a lot just watching the film. Every interception I threw last week could have been prevented just by making a better decision with the football. Obviously, we all know that it could've been better."
Head coach Andy Reid reiterated the lefty quarterback's sentiments, predicting a revival for Vick in this Thursday's preseason matchup with the Cleveland Browns and characterizing last week's performance as an anomaly.
"He just needs to continue to execute and lead the way that he has in the past, and he'll do that," said Reid in his Tuesday afternoon press conference. "There's going to be a blip every once and a while. That's how it is when you play quarterback and you have the ball in your hand every snap, but you have to have a short-term memory and learn from it and move on."
Vick and the starters are going to have to forget about last week and step up their play if they hope to live up to their expectations for this season. They'll get the opportunity to do that against the Browns.
Reid announced that the starters would play for about the first three quarters of the game. Unlike in the previous two preseason games, the Eagles coaches will devise a game plan specifically tailored to the Browns in order to better approximate preparation for a regular season game.
"Our schedule is a little bit different this week," noted the 10-year veteran quarterback. "We're preparing as if we we're going to play a full game. We just want to go out and put on the best performance possible, play as a unit, play smart and stay healthy."
The 2010 AP Comeback Player of the Year will certainly be taking Thursday's matchup with the Browns seriously, and a repeat of last week is simply unacceptable.
"I'm going to go out this week and try to put on a great performance. As long as I'm out there, even though it's preseason, it's still a game."
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