Since entering the NFL in 2001, Eagles quarterback Mike Vick has appeared in all 16 games only once, during his final season with the Falcons in 2006. Five years later, in his first season as the full-time starter in Philadelphia, Vick missed three games due to injury.
Amid ongoing criticism that his playing style exposes Vick to an unnecessary risk of injury, Vick made a promise to Eagles fans during a Friday appearance on The Mike Missanelli Show on 97.5 The Fan in Philadelphia.
“I want to make a promise to all my fans that I’m going to make a conscious effort, a cognitive effort, to make sure that I protect myself,” Vick said. “And you know my motto has been this for the last six months, and I repeatedly said to myself: ‘Get the next yard on the next play.’ You know, whether I’m running the football or scrambling or trying to do something improvising. Get the next yard on the next play. That’s why you have second down and third down, and possibly fourth down. So you can give yourself opportunity.
“If you’re not on the field, then you don’t have that chance. So I just want to give myself ample opportunity. Praying to God that I can play sixteen games. I know that’s the key to the season. I know deep down in my heart. And even though I believe in the players behind me, the players around me, I know what I can do and I know what I can bring to the table each and every Sunday, so I know it’s paramount that I’m out on the field.”
One way to protect himself would be to learn how to slide. He supposedly can’t, but if far, far lesser athletes easily can, maybe he’s not the “uncanny” talent he thinks he is.
And while his comments make sense, if he thinks to much about getting injured, some would say he’s more likely to get injured. Vick just needs to play smart, knowing when to throw the ball away and when to hit the deck in the pocket and when to run out of bounds and when to slide or otherwise choose colliding with the ground over colliding with another player moving in the opposite direction to Vick.