Head coach Andy Reid announced Friday that Kevin Kolb will be the team's starting quarterback this Sunday when the Eagles face the 4-1 Atlanta Falcons at Lincoln Financial Field.
What Reid would not officially announce is the role of quarterback Michael Vick. By all accounts, Vick is making significant improvements with his rib cartilage injury. He was able to practice in a limited role on Friday, and took snaps under center for the first time in his recovery process.
Reid has not ruled Vick out for this weekend's game, and said it's entirely possible that Vick will dress as the team's second quarterback.
"It's the improvement that he's making every day," Reid said. "He went from throwing it a little bit (Thursday) to throwing it a little bit more today. He's able to take a handoff, that sounds like an easy thing but the way he was hit, he had a lot of pain when he was pushing his shoulders together.
"So taking a snap would have been tough a few days ago, or a week ago. But he's able to do that, he doesn't have the pain he had before, he's made a lot of improvement."
When pressed on exactly what Vick's role would be if he dressed, Reid wasn't ready to make that determination, saying, "We'll just see, we'll see how it works here in the next few days."
But one thing is for sure: Vick's return isn't far off. Whether he's back next week in Tennessee, or after the bye week, Vick will be ready to go in the near future. Head athletic trainer Rick Burkholder and his staff have worked tirelessly to get Vick healthy and back in the game, something the Eagles quarterback doesn't take for granted.
"I'm just going to see how it goes for the next couple of days," Vick said Friday. "I've made progress each and every day, and it's a credit to the training staff. I'm just feeling good and ready to go."
While he's in far less pain than this time last week, Vick admits he's still not pain free. Interestingly, it is Vick's shoulder that's causing him the most discomfort these past few days, and not his chest.
"I'm just a couple days away," Vick said. "There's still pain in the shoulder, but I can tolerate it and it's not as bad as it was just two days ago. Every day I make progress and that's a good thing. I've just been optimistic about it all week, and I'm excited about my progress.
"There's a little discomfort but, like I said, it's tolerable. I can tolerate it and it's not something where I can't go out and be functional. I just want to continue to heal up each and every day, get the soreness out, and keep working."
Amid a flurry of questions, Vick made one thing certain. This weekend, the priority isn't the man under center. The priority is winning the game.
"Just get a win, at the end of the day," Vick said. "If I'm out there, if Kevin is out there, or if Mike Kafka is out there, we just want to win this football game. That's the most important thing."
If they can accomplish that, the Eagles will have won four of their first six games for the sixth time in the last nine years.
-- Posted by Josh Goldman, 2:55 p.m., October 15
