The New York Jets won a game on Sunday for the first time since Sept. 7. It had been more than two months since Rex Ryan and company kicked off their season with a win over the lowly Oakland Raiders. According to Michael Vick, the drought would not have lasted that long if he had been the starting quarterback all season.
After leading his team to a win over the Pittsburgh Steelers, Vick was asked if he believed the Jets would have won more games this season if he started every game.
“In my heart, yes,” he said, per Darryl Slater of NJ.com. “Yeah, I mean, to sit here and say no would show a lack of confidence in myself and my teammates. But absolutely, I think if I was starting from Day 1, then maybe it would’ve been an opportunity. But that wasn’t the case. I wasn’t put in that situation. The team wasn’t put in that situation.”
You didn’t really expect him to say, “No, I’m a loser too,” did you? Vick looked decent on Sunday, but it was mostly the Jets defense holding a red-hot Ben Roethlisberger in check that allowed New York to pull off the upset. Vick was quick to point out that he didn’t want his comments to be viewed as a shot at Geno Smith.
“Please don’t go out and say, ‘Mike Vick felt like if he was the starter, then we would be winning,’ because that’s not what I’m saying right now,” he said. “I’m saying in front of all these cameras that, if given an opportunity, yeah, I believe our team would’ve maybe won some games. That’s speaking from experience and playing in the league for a long time.”
I suppose Vick could have danced around the question, but that’s not his style. He always answers questions honestly (and sometimes in hilarious fashion), so no one should be surprised.
