In his much publicized re-debut in the NFL, Michael Vick served mostly as a decoy as the Eagles offense rolled over Kansas CIty.
Vick was on the field for a total of 11 plays. On 8 of the 11 plays Vick either handed the ball off or was simply a decoy and never touched the ball. He threw two incompletions, one of which was a ball he threw away under pressure. He ran the ball one time for 7 yards.
The amount of snaps he took was more than I had anticipated, but the amount plays he had any meaningful role in(3) is just about what I expected. I'm not sure what else anyone could have or would have expected from Vick in his first action after sitting out the past two years. As a part time player his opportunities were always going to be limited, and as a guy who joined the team late and hasn't played in two years it was always going to take some time.
The questions going forward with Vick are pretty clear. Does he continue to take steps toward being the athletic weapon he one was? How many more or less snaps will he play when McNabb returns? And finally, how much longer can the Eagles get away with him being simply a decoy?
In the coming weeks, Vick needs to make plays if defenses are going to respect him as a decoy. If all he ever does is hand the ball off, defenses aren't going to be concerned with him. This first game is what I expected and I'm fine with how Vick was used and how he performed. Going forward, I fully expect him to run and probably pass more as well. He has to, or else there's no point in having him out there.