Andy Reid shocked the football world on Tuesday with the announcement that Michael Vick will be the team's starting quarterback moving forward. In explaining the decision, Reid said that Vick simply gave the team no choice because of his exemplary play since stepping in for a concussed Kevin Kolb against the Green Bay Packers in the season opener and in the team's 35-32 victory over the Detroit Lions.
"Michael Vick will be the starting quarterback for the Philadelphia Eagles," Reid pronounced. "I think his play has even exceeded expectations over the last two weeks. This has nothing to do with Kevin Kolb's injury ... he's done a phenomenal job for us here. The future of Kevin Kolb is not slighted by this one bit. He has an opportunity to be what I would consider a franchise quarterback and very deserving of so. This is more about Michael Vick and his accelerated play. He's sitting there as possibly the hottest quarterback in the NFL at this time.
"Very few quarterbacks can go out and play the way he played the last couple weeks and do the things that he did."
On the season, Vick is 37-of-58 (63.8 completion percentage) for 459 yards, three touchdowns and no interceptions or turnovers of any kind.
"He's playing exceptional football right now," Reid said.
Of course, such a franchise-shaking decision is not made lightly.
"When you deal with a decision like this, you take as much time as you possibly need to take," Reid said. "The first person I met with on this decision was Kevin Kolb. I met with him the past two days and we shared thoughts ... He's a young quarterback that I think the sky's the limit for. He's just in a situation where an ex-superstar has regained his abilities and it's that simple. Michael Vick is playing out of his mind right now."
So how did Kolb react?
"Kevin Kolb is one of the most competitive guys I've ever been around, so he wants to be the starting quarterback of the Philadelphia Eagles ... but he's also a team player. He accepted it, but I'm not going to tell you he doesn't want to be the starting quarterback."
As for Vick, who has come such a long way since signing with the Eagles last summer following his incarceration, it's an opportunity to reclaim his status as one of the premier players in the league. Reid informed Vick by phone earlier in the day.
"He and Kevin are very close, so his first concern obviously is about Kevin," Reid said of Vick's reaction. "I think, on the other hand, he relishes this opportunity."
Reid said that this decision was not an indictment of the offensive line, but that he did take into account the team as a whole.
"The team had seen the great play by Michael Vick just like you saw and I saw," he said. "That was part of the decision."
Vick will make his second start of the season, and first as the official number one quarterback, this Sunday against the Jacksonville Jaguars.
-- Posted by Bo Wulf, 7:06 p.m., September 21
