Michael Vick

There are two sides to Michael Vick's athleticism. At times, his breathtaking talent conjures gains from thin air when the defense is closing in. But last season, Vick's unfailing belief in his own ability too often led to risky plays and game-changing turnovers. "He gets caught sometimes doing too much, trying to do too much, and that's where he gets in trouble," Eagles quarterbacks coach Doug Pederson said Monday in advance of full-team practices that begin Tuesday. "We eliminate those and keep him within our system, and positive things are going to happen.

This summer, hair weaves are taking a turn for the kinky, the curly and the wavy. Why is this news? When black women first started sewing hair onto their scalps during the 1990s en masse, the resulting shoulder-length bobs were as much about achieving a smooth texture as it was about having length. Fabulous hair was defined as long and straight. However, as more black women have come to terms with their natural curl pattern, store-bought tresses are trending toward the fuzzy rather than the flat-ironed.

DID YOU NOTICE? * Two of the Eagles' first three plays were out of two-tight-end formations. LeSean McCoy gained a yard on the first and Michael Vick picked up 2 yards on the other one. * Michael Vick's poor third-down pass to Jeremy Maclin on the Eagles' first possession. He had Maclin open for a first down and missed him. It was one of the few poor passes Vick made yesterday. He had just seven incompletions in 22 attempts. * Safety Kurt Coleman, who forced the first-quarter fumble that Juqua Parker returned for a touchdown, knocked the ball loose from Santonio Holmes with his helmet.

LOOKING BACK at the Eagles' 31-13 win over the Rams while wondering what Jay Paterno would be doing for a living right now if his father wasn't Penn State's head coach:   BY THE NUMBERS *  Because of the problems they had against the run, particularly early on, the Eagles stayed in their base defense much of the game. They used their nickel sub-package (two linebackers, five defensive backs) just five times in the first half and a total of 11 times in the first three quarters.

THE OFFSEASON NFL players lost to the lockout last year has been blamed for just about every unfortunate thing that's happened, this side of the "Twilight" movies. Eagles quarterbacks coach Doug Pederson threw another log on the fire Monday, when he opined that the falloff in QB Michael Vick's play last season had a lot to do with Vick not being able to review mistakes with coaches and fine-tune this time a year ago. "Honestly, I think it was the offseason," Pederson said during a rare NovaCare media session with Eagles offensive position coaches, minus offensive line coach Howard Mudd, who isn't in town.

New Eagle Kyle DeVan knows a little bit of what Danny Watkins must be going through. DeVan, a right guard signed Sunday after he was released by the Colts, spent his first year on an active roster in 2009, when Howard Mudd was Indianapolis' offensive line coach. Mudd now holds the same position with the Eagles. "I've been where Danny was three years ago," DeVan said. "I've been the young guy in the group. " DeVan, 26, said he was four years younger than any of his offensive line teammates that season.

MICHAEL Vick was directed by the NFL to stay away from the Atlanta Falcons' training camp until the league "reviews the dogfighting charges against him. " What's left to review? Take the bodies of the dogs who suffered and review that! Vick is a monster. He hasn't talked publicly since May. Know why? He's a creep that no one wants to listen to! This'll be just like O.J. - he'll get away with bloody murders. Jennifer McShane, Wilmington, Del.

For the last two weeks, Michael Vick has been the talk of this and a lot of other towns. Now, he's actually going to play. Eagles coach Andy Reid confirmed after practice yesterday that the quarterback will be in uniform for tomorrow night's exhibition game against the Jacksonville Jaguars at Lincoln Financial Field. Exactly how or when Reid plans to use Vick remained a mystery. "We'll just see how we use Michael," the coach said. Asked about his specific plans for Vick, Reid wouldn't reveal anything.

Michael Vick missed a pair of events in the South this weekend after probation officials restricted his travel. The Eagles quarterback, who has homes in Pennsylvania and Virginia, was barred from attending a football camp in Raleigh, N.C., and a charity golf tournament he was headlining in Tucker, Ga. Vick's travel has been subject to review by probation officers ever since his release from jail in 2009 on a federal dogfighting conviction, according...

Nothing that happened on the field - not even the return of three-time Super Bowl winner Tom Brady - could trump the shocking news last night that quarterback Michael Vick had signed with the Eagles. As the Eagles played the New England Patriots in an exhibition game at Lincoln Financial Field, a team source said the deal, which is for one year and an option, was actually agreed to Tuesday; the team did not plan to announce it until this morning. According to Fox Sports, Vick will be paid $1.6 million this year, with a chance for the three-time Pro Bowl quarterback to make $5.6 million as part of a 2010 option.

There are two sides to Michael Vick's athleticism. At times, his breathtaking talent conjures gains from thin air when the defense is closing in. But last season, Vick's unfailing belief in his own ability too often led to risky plays and game-changing turnovers. "He gets caught sometimes doing too much, trying to do too much, and that's where he gets in trouble," Eagles quarterbacks coach Doug Pederson said Monday in advance of full-team practices that begin Tuesday. "We eliminate those and keep him within our system, and positive things are going to happen.

THE OFFSEASON NFL players lost to the lockout last year has been blamed for just about every unfortunate thing that's happened, this side of the "Twilight" movies. Eagles quarterbacks coach Doug Pederson threw another log on the fire Monday, when he opined that the falloff in QB Michael Vick's play last season had a lot to do with Vick not being able to review mistakes with coaches and fine-tune this time a year ago. "Honestly, I think it was the offseason," Pederson said during a rare NovaCare media session with Eagles offensive position coaches, minus offensive line coach Howard Mudd, who isn't in town.

Michael Vick started out calm and smooth and in control. He should move down a football field as well as he did the chessboard Tuesday against his first opponent, a sixth grader named True Knowledge Islam. True Knowledge had the name, but Vick had the game. The Eagles quarterback tapped his foot, fingered his captured pieces, and was the picture of poise as he steadily, mercilessly dispatched his first foe, age 11. Michael Vick learned chess, and learned to love chess, while he was in a federal prison for his role in a dog-fighting operation - "When I was away," as he called it. He taught himself, first as a way just to kill the boredom.

It isn't a popular reminder for Eagles fans, but the best draft pick of the Andy Reid era - yes, including Brian Westbrook, DeSean Jackson, or LeSean McCoy - was easily Donovan McNabb. When you pick a player at the most important position on the field, from among a list of apparently worthy candidates, and that player performs at a high level for more than a decade and helps transform your team into a perennial winner, that is a very good draft pick. McNabb, however, will be forever known here as a very capable, albeit goofy, quarterback who was able to accomplish everything except the only thing that mattered.

RECENTLY, a contending East Coast football team acquired a backup quarterback with the express intent of using him as a "wildcat" weapon. The quarterback possessed rare athletic skills, but those skills often got him into as much trouble as they helped him elude. The quarterback's passing mechanics were flawed. His footwork was clumsy. His ability to decipher defenses was deficient. In addition, the quarterback brought with him baggage of his own creation; baggage that he never could shake.

PALM BEACH, Fla. - Much of the discussion around Andy Reid's table Wednesday morning at the NFC coaches breakfast with the media centered around the need for his daredevil quarterback, Michael Vick, to put a little more effort into staying healthy this season. "It's an important question and he realizes that," Reid said. "He realizes that the last four teams standing in the playoffs, their quarterbacks started the whole season. It's been a topic his whole career and it surely has been since we've had him. I think he understands that there's a problem and a situation.

It is part of Philadelphia sports lore, the time Andy Reid told Allen Iverson he didn't think the temperamental 76ers star could play for him. Iverson countered that, having played football in high school, he knew the NFL was different from the NBA, and he'd be different, too. Football coaches aren't just talkin' 'bout practice; it's the cornerstone of everything they do. A decade later, Reid is living out a high-stakes version of that...

QUESTION: Tim Tebow to the Eagles? Answer: Why not? Which is not saying that it will happen, or even that it should happen. But now that Peyton Manning is headed to the Denver Broncos, it makes total sense for the Broncos to make a trade in order to keep the carnival sideshow to a manageable level. And if the Broncos are going to make a trade, well, again: Why not? If, after last season, Tebow is now viewed throughout the NFL as a player around whom a team can build a winner, he is not coming to the Eagles and it isn't worth talking about - not unless the Eagles would be willing to throw Michael Vick over the side, which certainly does not seem likely.

When the Eagles first had the chance to acquire DeSean Jackson, they saw an opportunity. Here was an electric receiver and return man, a cheetah in shoulder pads sitting there in the middle of the second round. Questions about his attitude and durability lurked, but the potential reward outweighed the low risk of a second-round pick. The Eagles picked him. The decision instantly paid off. Jackson made the Pro Bowl in his second and third seasons. At times, he was unstoppable.

The following column is not meant as a slight to Michael Vick, who is a pretty good quarterback and a guy who has become a fairly decent human being. But as a fan of the Eagles, if you wouldn't want Peyton Manning to be your quarterback next year instead of Vick, then you don't know much about football. And I don't mean that in a bad way. The Manning Sweepstakes are in full whirl, and the only question we haven't been able to answer yet is whether the Eagles are interested in acquiring the neck-bone-challenged, sure-to-be Hall of Fame quarterback to secure a better run at a Super Bowl.