Vick: 'I've got a lot of football to play'

Michael Vick believes he can still be a starting quarterback in the NFL, but will teams have the same opinion when he becomes a free agent this offseason?

Vick officially lost the Eagles' starting job on Tuesday when Chip Kelly announced that Nick Foles would have the spot for the remainder of the season, but the transition had been a foregone conclusion.

What had started with promise ended as many predicted it would when Vick re-signed with the Eagles in February. He would get injured, miss significant time, and lose his job to Foles.

And although there's always the chance that we haven't seen the last of Vick with the Eagles' first-team offense, the bell has begun to toll for his time in Philadelphia.

He knows it. As far back as late September, after the Eagles opened with a 1-3 record, he admitted to The Inquirer that his expiring one-year contract weighed on his mind. But with five games left in the season, the next phase of Vick's career beckons.

"It's tough when your future's uncertain, but you also have to look at the things that you did, the things that you [were] able to do well," Vick said. "Hopefully, that's enough to continue to show that I can continue to play. I feel good, I feel great, still feel like I have a lot of time to play this game."

Vick handled the prospect of his demotion with grace and he wasn't any different after Kelly gave him the official word on Tuesday.

"I'm not a selfish person at all," Vick said. "I don't ever feel like the world revolves around me. I've been blessed. I've been blessed with the ability to play this game. I'm extremely talented. Like I said, I know I've got a lot of football to play and that's what keeps me going."

It isn't cynical to suggest that Vick also knows that others are watching and if he wants to have a job elsewhere next season it would be in his best interest to be a dutiful soldier.

If teams only see him as a backup, then how would it look if he griped a few games into what has been a winning formula? More than likely, though, he'll get an opportunity to come in and compete for a starting job, much as he did this past offseason.

"I feel like I can still start, yeah, in this league," Vick said, before turning the question on the questioner. "What do you think? No, honestly, what do you think?"

Yeah, sure.

"Now you answered your own question," Vick joked. "I appreciate that."

Any team that signs Vick, especially if it says he'll compete to start, will also have to shoulder the additional baggage that comes with the controversial figure.

It has been more than four years since Vick was released from prison on a dogfighting conviction, but his critics remain as vocal as ever. It's a small minority, though, and nothing compared to those who just don't think he can develop into an elite quarterback.

At 33, those days are almost certainly gone. This was likely Vick's last chance, and if he couldn't make it work in a scheme seemingly tailor-made to his skill set, then he isn't going to make it in what would be the fifth offense he has had to learn in 12 seasons.

It's not as though Vick was bad. He threw for 1,215 yards and five touchdowns, ran 34 times for 308 yards and two scores. But he also completed only 54.6 percent of his passes, tossed three interceptions and lost two fumbles.

The Eagles lost in four of his six starts, but Vick was hardly the only reason.

"I was out there, I was playing good," Vick said. "Nick went out there and played great and that's pretty much been the way it's been."

The biggest strike against Vick at this point in his career is his fragility. He has missed 16 games over the last four seasons, and left an additional six games early after suffering an injury.

Vick strained his hamstring against the New York Giants on Oct. 6. He missed the next game but came back too early the following week and aggravated the injury.

"I think I'm finally back to 100 percent," Vick said. "It took a long time to get there. We just wanted to be cautious, wanted to do it the right way."

Vick has had to spell an injured Foles twice before - in October after Foles' concussion when he rushed back too soon and last December after a fractured hand. So he's only a chin strap away from playing, as Kelly likes to say.

"We've got a good situation," Kelly said. "I think we have two quarterbacks that win games in the NFL, and I think you need both of them."

But only one will be back next season, especially if Vick wants the opportunity to start again. That ship has sailed with the Eagles.

"If I had to do it all over again, I would do it," Vick said. "Absolutely. I don't regret anything."