Offensive coordinator Marty Mornhinweg said on Thursday that he thinks quarterback Michael Vick has "had a fine year."

From a passing standpoint, statistically, Vick needs just 51 passing yards to set a new career high. If he eclipses 3,000 passing yards, he will have done that in back-to-back seasons for the first time in his 10-year career. Vick is on the verge of completing 60 percent of his passes and his 82.9 passer rating would be the second-highest of any season as a starting quarterback. Thanks to the revamped offensive line, Vick has been sacked 13 fewer times than last season. With a win Sunday, Vick would have just one fewer victory than last year.

But there are two areas where even Mornhinweg wants to see improvement - interceptions and the amount of unnecessary hits taken.

Vick's 13 interceptions are tied for a career high. Saturday's win over Dallas was Vick's first without an interception since, coincidentally enough, the October 30 win against Dallas. The only other game in which Vick played and did not throw an interception this season was the season opener in St. Louis.

"Mike understands that the turnover ratio is the biggest statistical correlation to winning that you can get. Period. Done," Mornhinweg said. "You try to minimize those while still being explosive and dynamic and all those things, but you have to minimize those turnovers. They have come in some strange waves this year, but it's the biggest statistical correlation to winning that you can get. You have to minimize those. Period. Done. Over. Complete. He does understand that."

For the second straight season, Vick missed three games due to injury. Vick also exited two other games early. The Eagles led in those two games when he left, at Atlanta and vs. Giants, but eventually lost both contests.

"He puts himself in too many risky situations. If the game is on the line and it's an important play, I'm fine with it because that's the time to take those risks but every other time, I want him to be better," Mornhinweg said. "I've been through a bunch of film, and this might sound crazy, but he has gotten just a little bit better. There's some situations especially in the middle of the field and in the pocket where he needs to get better, and he's got to do that. We'll work in the offseason there."

That's a key point. Vick has still not yet had an offseason as the Eagles starting quarterback. And Mornhinweg knows that Vick's fearlessness is one of the reasons he's one of the best quarterbacks in the game. But he wants to get the message through to him that there are situations where it's better to live to fight another day rather than take the punishment.

"In certain situations in this league, you definitely need to protect yourself," Mornhinweg said. "You need to put him in those situations and drill him a little bit better than I have and emphasize it a little bit more."

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