The Philadelphia Eagles have looked unstoppable at times in their first two games of the season under Chip Kelly. Their offense is lightning-fast and looks like it has enough talent to light up almost any opposing defense. Michael Vick has been a major part of that, but it only makes sense to wonder if he is bound to go down with an injury at some point. San Diego Chargers linebacker Dwight Freeney seems to think he will.
“The problem is with that offense, to be honest with you, is the quarterback position and the pounding the quarterback takes with that and it’s not college anymore,” Freeney told NBC Sports Network’s Pro Football Talk earlier this week. “And it’s going to be very interesting to see if a team can actually have a starting quarterback or backup quarterback last through the whole entire year with (the athletes coming after them).
“Not a college athlete — you’re talking about a guy who may be 300 pounds, running a 4.8-whatever it is, hitting your quarterback every time he carries out a fake, whether he has the ball or not. Will the quarterback to be able to last the whole year? That’s the question.”
Here’s the reason it makes perfect sense in Philadelphia: Vick’s health has always been an issue. Odds are he’s going to miss time with an injury at some point anyway, so why not call plays that are catered to his athletic ability and see how far it can take you? If you try to play conservatively, he’s probably an average quarterback anyway.
“They don’t really stress protection,” Freeney said. “They stress more or less, you know what, we’re going to confuse, this, that and the other.”
Did Reid stress protection? Probably, but that didn’t stop Vick from getting lit up. In fact, you could make the argument that some of the hits he took standing in the pocket are more taxing than the ones he will take running the option or rushing for a seven-yard gain. If Vick gets injured, it won’t be because of Kelly’s offense — it will be because Vick always gets injured.
