There are a host of reasons Vick gets hit as often as he does. On Sunday, the hits came because protection broke down, play-calling was lopsided, receivers couldn't get open, and because, well, it is an occupational hazard.
"Everybody had a little bit of that," Eagles coach Andy Reid said Monday. "We've got to tighten that up. You can't go through and have the quarterback get hit that much."
But Vick got hit more than any other quarterback on Sunday because it comes with being Michael Vick, Daredevil Quarterback. He has always taken unnecessary blows because bravado takes over and common sense is tossed into the breeze like some ill-fated pass.
The same traits Vick said this offseason that he would abandon were there again in Cleveland - not always throwing the ball away when it's necessary and scrambling without caution. And then there is his holding onto the football in the pocket a slight hesitation longer than he should.
"It could have been that game. It's not necessarily him," Reid said. "Then you've got to bring the numbers. You've got to study the numbers of the other quarterbacks getting hit."
In the first 14 games of this NFL season, the average number of quarterback hits per game, according to official league statistics, was 4.4. Vick was hit 11 times, including two sacks, behind the line of scrimmage. That does not take into account the occasions when he gets pelted running downfield.
"In the pocket, I wouldn't say he gets hit more than the other quarterbacks," Reid said.
"Now, I'm not going around studying . . . [the] numbers for you on the other quarterbacks. Maybe you've got the numbers, but I know quarterbacks are taking hits within the pocket there."
Vick's hit count, as tallied by the league, was significantly greater than those of his NFC East counterparts, for example. Eli Manning of the New York Giants was hit five times in Wednesday night's opener against the Cowboys. Tony Romo was hit two times in the same game. And Redskins rookie Robert Griffin III was hit three times against the Saints on Sunday.
Vick did take a considerably larger number of snaps and he dropped back to pass more than all three quarterbacks, so there were more opportunities for him to get hit in the pocket. He took 95 snaps and was hit 11.6 percent of the time. Manning was hit on 8.9 percent of his 56 snaps. Romo was 2.9 percent on 68 snaps. And Griffin was 3.9 percent on 76 snaps.
The Rams' Sam Bradford was hit on 12 percent of his throws, the only quarterback to top Vick. Ben Roethlisberger was hit on 11.1 percent of his 81 snaps. The Steelers quarterback and Vick have often been considered the QBs among their generation to get hit the most. Both have missed time to injury. Roethlisberger is 6-foot-5 and 240 pounds. Vick is 6-0, 215.
And then there was Sunday's pass-happy play-calling. You have to throw often to win in today's NFL. But can Reid and offensive coordinator Marty Mornhinweg continue to put Vick in peril by dropping him back so often?
Vick dropped back to pass 60 times Sunday. He threw 56 times and ran four other times. In the first half the Eagles' pass-run ratio was 33 to 8. Two LeSean McCoy runs were negated by penalties and the Eagles threw on the next down. Still, the number was lopsided and Vick had endured 10 hits by the half.
In the second half, there was more balance. Vick's three interceptions at that point may have led to more running as the game shifted into the fourth quarter. Still, the pass-run ratio was 27-15 and Vick was hit six times.
The other issue with Vick is how he handles pressure, in particular the blitz – in recognition and reaction. When the Browns blitzed Vick, he completed 8 of 17 passes for 135 yards, tossed an interception and was sacked twice, according to ProFootballfocus.com.
What it all adds up to is one beat-up quarterback and one that increasingly misses time because of injury. Vick kept getting up off the turf in Cleveland, but it's only a matter of time before he has to be helped off and into the locker room.
And then an ever more vocal segment of fans will get what they're already pining for - whether they end up liking it or not: the debut of Foles.
Contact Jeff McLane at 215-854-4745, jmclane@phillynews.com or on Twitter @Jeff_McLane.
