Following Michael Vick's superlative performance in Sunday's 35-32 win over the Detroit Lions, head coach Andy Reid stood firm in his support of Kevin Kolb as the team's starting quarterback and said that, in fact, the team is in an enviable position.
"I think it's a beautiful situation," Reid said. "I look at it a lot differently than other people look at it. I've got two quarterbacks that can play ... at a very important position. I'm a happy guy about it. There are a lot of teams that don't have good quarterbacks, ones that they feel like they can win with, and I feel like we can with both of those guys.
"Kevin has a lot of confidence in himself. I think the players have a lot of confidence in him and I think he knows that. At that position, sometimes things aren't going to always go the way you want them all the time. So, Kevin's a tough kid and that's what you have to bank on and what he does bank on. He'll be fine. He's an upbeat guy that knows how to play the game."
As for Vick, Reid said that what the quarterback has done over the past two weeks by impressing on the field is set a positive example off of it.
"I'm very proud of him," Reid said. "It's a true testament that if you work hard, you keep your nose clean, good things can happen. And he's worked very hard at doing both those things and I'm proud of the way he led the football team yesterday."
One of the standout players from the Week 2 win was running back LeSean McCoy, who ran for 120 yards and three touchdowns, including an explosive 46-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter than turned out to be the game-winner.
"This is a kid that came in as a rookie and needed to add more strength," Reid said. "He added more strength in the off-season, really bought into the off-season program, worked his tail off and it's showing up now. He's going out and he's running more physical, he's more deliberate and accurate with his cuts, seeing the daylight and getting North and South, which you have to do in this league. Going sideways in this league, like he did a little bit last year, that doesn't work. So he learned, he got stronger and it paid off for him."
But as impressive as the offense was on Sunday, the quarterback was still under constant pressure, which is something that the team needs to deal with better.
"We definitely need to handle the blitz better," Reid said. "I don't think we did a good job of that. They were giving us overload blitzes, we have to do a better job of recognizing that ... I have to make sure I give the players an opportunity with the playcalls where the quarterback can get the ball out of his hands quick in order to get the ball in the hands of our receivers."
Defensively, Reid said that he was disappointed in the two late touchdowns scored by the Lions, but the subsequent stop following Detroit's onside kick recovery was big positive. He singled out cornerback Ellis Hobbs for praise in his coverage of Detroit's Calvin Johnson and for his interception and did likewise for rookie safety Nate Allen. Reid also said that defensive tackle Trevor Laws and defensive end Juqua Parker did well providing consistent pressure.
Rookie defensive end Brandon Graham notched his first NFL sack but left the game in the second half with a shoulder strain; he is day-to-day after an MRI was negative. The only other news on the injury front, other than the return of Kolb and Stewart Bradley from their concussions, is a lower back strain for offensive lineman Austin Howard.
-- Posted by Bo Wulf, 12:48 p.m., September 20
