Mornhinweg would rather be Eagles' No. 2 than a bad team's No. 1

THE EAGLES had won, and the offense had clicked nicely in a romp over the visiting Giants.

So Marty Mornhinweg was surprised when Michael Vick approached him after the game and announced, "I'll see you Tuesday at 11."

The Eagles were off that Tuesday, and Mornhinweg wanted his quarterback, in his first full season behind center in 4 years, to rest as much as possible, especially as the team prepared for Game 11.

Mornhinweg told Vick, "No. Whatever it is, it can wait until Wednesday."

"No," Vick replied. "Tuesday. At 11."

Tuesday at 11 they met on the Eagles' indoor practice field. Mornhinweg drilled Vick on footwork issues that cost Vick the chance to connect on a couple of big plays. During the 2 years of Vick's reintegration to the NFL and his re-education as a quarterback, it always has been footwork with him.

They worked for 45 minutes, just the two of them. Then Mornhinweg sent Vick home:

"Otherwise, he'd have worked an hour, hour-and-a-half."

And Mornhinweg would have been right there beside him.

Mornhinweg arrived in Philadelphia in 2003 with a gilded pedigree as an assistant coach: Brett Favre's coach in 1996, when the Packers won the Super Bowl and Favre won his second MVP award; Steve Young's coach in 1997 and '98, Young's last Pro Bowl seasons; Jeff Garcia's first NFL coordinator, who guided Garcia to the Pro Bowl in 2000, Garcia's first full season as a starter.

Since arriving, Mornhinweg has only burnished his record. He was Donovan McNabb's offensive coordinator from 2004 to '09, when McNabb logged his five best passing seasons.

"It's no coincidence that when he and Andy were on the staff together, we were one of the most productive offenses in history," McNabb says.

Mornhinweg took over playcalling from head coach Andy Reid full time in 2006. Mornhinweg helped Kevin Kolb shed the stigma of being a product of the University of Houston's spread offense; now, Kolb is a West Coast surgeon and a coveted starter-in-waiting.

Kolb currently is waiting behind Vick, who, thanks to a suddenly refined set of skills, stole Kolb's job last season. Vick starred as Atlanta's messiah for five seasons before a dogfighting conviction cost him 2 years of his career. As a No. 1 quarterback, Vick never had a passer rating above 82 before last season, when, under Mornhinweg, it jumped to 100.2, fourth in the league.

Mornhinweg saw it coming.