Quarterback Michael Vick increased his workload on Thursday in practice and said he is "preparing to play" Sunday against Tampa Bay. However, a decision has not yet been made on his status, and it's likely that an official decision won't be made until Sunday morning.
"Today was another stepping stone," said Vick, who was limited on the team's official injury report. "I think we'll go and work it out before the game and see how it feels. Until then, I'm going to continue to get treatment and I've got some things that I'm going to try to do today to try to get it better."
Vick wants to be on the field on Sunday as the Eagles look for their third win of the season, but he and the Eagles training staff are going to make sure that he plays only if his hamstring is ready.
"It's important to be 100 percent, but with this type of injury if you do anything out of the ordinary than you can prolong the recovery process, so I'm just trying to be smart about it and our training staff is as well," Vick said.
Earlier in the day, head coach Chip Kelly met the media at the NovaCare Complex and updated Vick's hamstring injury, saying that Vick is improving, and that he remains "day by day" as far as his status for Sunday's game in Tampa.
"Mike got through all the individuals (in practice) and some of the work in seven-on-seven," said Kelly. "The good thing is that we still have three full days to evaluate."
Vick suffered a left hamstring injury during Sunday's 36-21 win over the Giants and has been limited in practice all week. Nick Foles came in for Vick on Sunday and led the Eagles from behind late in the third quarter and into the fourth quarter, and Foles has been taking the practice repetitions with the starting offense all week, with rookie Matt Barkley as the No. 2 quarterback.
Kelly said he will take as much time as possible to give Vick time to recover. Kelly said Vick told him his hamstring felt "good." Kelly said he could wait until Sunday morning to make a decision on who starts at quarterback.
"We're never going to put him in harm's way and we're always going to do what's best for the team," said Kelly.
Also, safety Patrick Chung has a "big day" of practice on Thursday after he was able to take part in a full practice on Wednesday. The Eagles want to see how Chung's shoulder injury responds after his first full practice in a couple of weeks.
"Day by day, it's getting better." Chung said following practice. Of course I want to play. I'm looking forward to playing a lot, but I don't make those decisions. I'm not going to rush it. I'm going to keep getting better day by day and see how it goes from there.
"I think all of the guys felt fresh today moving around, and then tomorrow will be another recover day for us, so we felt good," Chung said.
