Phil Sheridan: From Eagles, mixed signals on QBs

Let's try a fun little exercise regarding the Eagles' starting quarterback for this week, Michael Vick: Describe the performance that so excited some fans and media Sunday against Green Bay, but instead of Vick's name, insert Donovan McNabb's.

Vick (McNabb) scrambled for 103 rushing yards (because he's not a good enough passer to stay in the pocket).

Vick (McNabb) was sacked three times (because he holds the ball too long).

Vick (McNabb) threw a touchdown pass to Jeremy Maclin to get the Eagles back in the game (because Maclin dove and plucked that worm-burner from the edge of the grass blades).

Vick (McNabb) led the Eagles to a late field goal (because he's so preoccupied with not being pigeonholed as a running quarterback that he threw a terrible pass when he could have run the ball into the end zone himself on third down).

Vick (McNabb) almost brought the Eagles all the way back to beat the Packers (because, as usual, he fell short in the fourth quarter).

You get the idea. If McNabb had done exactly what Vick did, there would be the same amount of chatter about the Eagles' quarterbacks. But the clamor would be for benching the guy in question, not vaulting him into the starting job over the anointed No. 1 guy.

This is not about rehashing the Eagles' decision to trade McNabb. That's over and done with. The point is that the Eagles are so far through the looking glass now that fans and, very likely, teammates are energized by having a mobile and exciting QB - even one with some serious flaws - replace Kevin Kolb.

In other words, some of the people who advocated discarding McNabb for Kolb are now flush with enthusiasm for Vick - a QB more like McNabb, albeit demonstrably less adept or accomplished.

There is a technical football term for this: hilarious.

Less amusing is the set of circumstances that got everyone to this point. Andy Reid tried to play coy about whether Kolb could possibly start in Detroit. If the idea was to keep the Lions off balance, it was a waste of energy. Kolb did not pass the post-concussion test Wednesday morning and can't practice until Friday at the earliest. He hasn't been in meetings, either.

It would be bad football to stick Kolb out there under those circumstances. In the wake of the controversy over how the Eagles handled Kolb and Stewart Bradley after their injuries Sunday, it would be insanity to throw Kolb into a game without proper practice or prep time.

Vick will start. That means that, in 13 months, Eagles fans have been asked to absorb the shock of their team's signing one of the most notorious figures in sports history, try to make sense of the bizarre use of him in intrusive and mostly unsuccessful "packages," sit by while the face of the franchise was traded within the NFC East, fret all summer over Kolb's apparent shakiness as the starter, and, finally, embrace (or not) Vick as the starting quarterback.

That's a very bumpy ride, and it is not yet clear where or how it will end.

Unless the Eagles sign Vick to a long-term contract extension before the end of the season - an almost unthinkable idea before now - then he will be somewhere else for the 2011 season (assuming there is no lockout). That means the only rational plan is to get Kolb back on the field as soon as it is physically safe for him to be out there.

Meanwhile, though, the stage is set for a farce of grand proportion.

Reid said Wednesday that he would not add a quarterback to the roster. That means rookie Mike Kafka is the only backup for Vick, who absorbs more hits than the average quarterback because he runs so much (and he really is enough of a gamer to give up his body for extra yards). Those of us who covered the Brad Goebel extravaganza are going through the clips, mining for adjectives.

Reid hinted at so-called "disaster" quarterbacks who could step in if necessary. He may well mean the likes of DeSean Jackson and LeSean McCoy, who took snaps in Wildcat-style formations last season. Maybe Mike McGlynn can snap the ball to himself.

One suspects Reid doesn't want to add another volatile element - Jeff Garcia, anyone? - to his already out-of-control science experiment.

Vick took some heat for saying he thought the Eagles would have had a chance to beat Green Bay if he'd played all four quarters. It wasn't a gracious statement, but that doesn't mean it wasn't true. And it doesn't mean his teammates don't believe it as well. You can be sure they do.

It also may be true that the Eagles would have had a chance to win that game with McNabb playing all four quarters. But that's probably not gracious to point out, either.