Sal is well known for stirring the pot and saying some odd things, but this report is flat out bad. Dumb might also be another way to describe it.
Sal watched the first part of practice and then jumped on ESPN to proclaim that Michael Vick was practicing with the starters. Sal then says you can conclude that it is Vick’s job to win or lose.
Couple of problems there. First, Vick did take the first reps with the starters, but if Sal had paid attention in other practices he would know that Kelly mixes up Foles and Vick so that they both get reps with the starters. Vick began with the starters, but later Foles had that spot and Vick was with the number two offense.
And as for it being Vick’s job to win or lose…technically that is true. What Sal is trying to say is that it is Vick’s job to lose, in other words…he’s the favorite. I think we’ve been over that point enough. Kelly has no favorite. He’ll see who plays best and choose that QB.
But wait, there’s more (just like the bad infomercials we all love)!!!
Sal then talked about how the offense would run 1st/10 plays followed by 2nd/5 or 2nd/6 plays. His conclusion here is that the offense will focus on getting short gains rather than big chunks of yards. I’m not sure what to make of this. Did Andy Reid last summer have the Eagles practice 1st/10 and then 1st/20 to plan for the many holding penalties? I can’t totally be critical of Sal here, but it just seems like an odd point.
Thankfully Sal saved the best for last.
“From the time there’s a whistle to the snap…3 seconds max.”
Say what? That would be the fastest offense in the universe. I don’t know if the officials can even spot the ball in 3 seconds. Lining up to actually get the snap off? That’s pure insanity. 15 years ago teams took about 15 seconds between plays. Over time that has been worked on and teams have it down to about 10 seconds. 10.
3 seconds between plays is the equivalent of saying that Wilt Chamberlain once scored 300 points in a game. Or that Roger Maris hit 183 home runs. Or that Reggie White once had 63 sacks in a season.
Sal then noted that the Eagles want the QB to snap the ball within 3 seconds of getting to the line of scrimmage. Now this is possible. Maybe he just got his numbers wrong. But that’s the point. He should be smart enough to know that it is impossible to have only 3 seconds between plays.
The final doozy of the report came when Sal noted that Vick was running the offense “like a tuning fork”. Say what? Is that some kind of compliment?
(cue up NFL Films music and John Facenda’s voice)
“Johnny Unitas is one of the greatest quarterbacks of all time. He called his own plays and ran the Colts offense like a tuning fork…a shiny, well-tuned tuning fork. One with great strength and character, as well as a strong arm and accurate downfield passing ability. And black cleats. Yes, that’s the kind of tuning fork Jonnny U was.”
Thank you, Sal. Keep up the great work.
