EAGLES’ COACH REID YET TO RULE OUT VICK FOR SUNDAY’S GAME

Philadelphia Eagles’ head coach Andy Reid has a strange way of demonstrating confidence in his current starting quarterback Kevin Kolb.  Despite every indication that Michael Vick will be unable to play this weekend against the Atlanta Falcons, Reid has yet to ‘officially’ rule him out.  Vick continues to recover from his rib injury suffered against the Philadelphia Eagles and there’s no reason to rush him back but Reid is apparently holding out hope that he can play this weekend.

Reid gave this assessment of where Vick’s recovery is at:

"He's still recovering.  He started to lift some, but he's not throwing. We'll just see how he progresses. Kevin will take the reps at practice."

For Reid to even suggest Vick could play this weekend is pointless and counterproductive.  Assuming that Philadelphia considers Vick their best chance to win, bringing him back too soon and risking additional injury is clearly a bad idea.  It also serves to undermine current starter Kolb, who played a very solid and mistake free game last weekend.
Perhaps Reid thinks he’s gaining some sort of ‘edge’ by giving the Falcons’ defense more to think about as they prepare, but mind games like this rarely work in the NFL.

The Eagles did get some good news on the injury front as defensive tackle Broderick Bunkley won't need surgery on his elbow.  Reid explained the diagnosis, and wouldn’t even rule him out for the Falcons game:

"Originally, it looked like he needed surgery. After the doctors met it was decided, let's give him an opportunity to rehab, brace it up and give him some time. It's a stretch for him to go this week, but we'll see from there."

The Eagles have had 11 players miss games due to injury so far this season, which gave defensive tackle Mike Patterson a chance to lobby against the proposed extension of the season to 18 games:

"Crazy, isn't it? Maybe they'll rethink that extension [of two regular-season games] to the season."

Despite Reid's comments, no one is expecting Vick to play this week.  His status remains 'doubtful' on the injury report.  NFL betting enthusiasts would do well to handicap the game based on Kolb as the starter.  The current line on the game has the Eagles as -2’ point home favorites with the total set at 43.