Michael Vick has by all accounts been a good and supportive teammate despite being a backup quarterback no longer in the spotlight. But that doesn’t mean the former No. 1 overall pick doesn’t miss being a starter.
During an interview with NFL Network’s Kimberly Jones on Wednesday, Vick was asked about being second string and backup to Geno Smith with the New York Jets.
Vick talked about how the two will push each other in competition. Jones then said that most people still consider Vick to be one of the 32 best quarterbacks in the league, and she asked whether he still thinks of himself as a starting quarterback.
His answer was pretty introspective.
“I do,” Vick said firmly. “It’s hard not. I think, at times, it does hurt deep down that I’m not in that group (of the 32 starting QBs in the NFL). But everything happens for a reason, and maybe it’s time for me to just kind of sit back and kind of appreciate what I’m going through now to make me a better quarterback in the future.
“I still feel like I have a couple of years left and still move pretty good,” said Vick, who also acknowledged that the mental side of being a quarterback is important and that he keeps it sharp.
Whether Vick is one of the 32 best quarterbacks in the league is irrelevant when it comes to explaining why he’s not a starter. He’s not a starter because he’s no longer a franchise quarterback; he’s not a guy you can rely on to help you win games consistently. He had that chance in Philly following his stellar 2010 season, but he showed the next two seasons that he’s unreliable either because he gets hurt or commits too many turnovers. Because he’s not a franchise quarterback, the teams who don’t have very good QBs would rather invest their time and money in seeing whether a young guy can become a franchise QB rather than give first-team reps to a guy who will be 34 years old and has shown inconsistency throughout his career.
But would Vick give the Jets a better chance to win games next season than Geno? I believe so. And I bet we’ll see him in quite a few games.
