Michael Vick: Chip Kelly has grabbed team's attention

By JasonB Jun 26, 2013, 10:00am EDT

Earlier this offseason, Michael Vick made a crucial mistake.

Say anything remotely interesting during the offseason. Take it from someone who does this for a living, NFL writers are desperate for anything to write about during the offseason. Once the glow of the draft wears off, there's really just not that much to talk about every day for the rest of the summer. So when any player says anything remotely interesting or controversial, it makes national news.

This happened for Michael Vick when he was pressed earlier this month on whether he thought he was in for a long competition with Nick Foles for the Eagles starting job.

"Hopefully, Chip makes a decision before training camp and we won't have to answer that question, so we can go out there as quarterbacks and just focus on this season and not answer questions about competition every day," Vick said.

When that went through the NFL press offseason ringer, it ended up looking like this.

Michael Vick wants to Chip Kelly to name him starter now- SI.com

It's clear that the pressure is getting under Vick's skin. Given Kelly's unconventional methods, there's a chance that he opted to defer naming a starter to see how Vick would respond. If that's the case, he's not responding very well. - Mike Florio

NBC claimed that Vick was "frustrated" and "issued a statement" with his feelings on the QB battle. Again, he was just talking to reporters after practice.

In other words typical offseason nonsense. But as the NFL media wrung its hands, Vick said he and Chip Kelly quickly came to an understanding, something the new coach has done with the rest of the team as well.

"Coach is just so straightforward," Vick told Birds 24/7. "After the first four or five words, you already understand and know where he's coming from. So we talked the next day, and I sent him a text and he called me back and we talked and that was it. Like I said, everybody on that football team respects Coach Kelly and likes what he's been able to accomplish so far. He's grabbing the attention of everybody on our football team. We're just focused trying to do what's best for the organization."

We've had a lot of fun so far this offseason watching Chip smirk and joke his way through his interactions with the NFL media. If he could impart that "I really don't care what you think" attitude to his team, we hopefully will be seeing a lot of less of the drama that's become all too familiar in recent years.

Check out more of Vick's comments at Birds 24/7.