Fans and media members have spent the entire Eagles season debating how good Michael Vick was reading plays before the snap.
Publicly Eagles players have supported Vick, saying that he is doing a good job. That changed in this week's edition of Sports Illustrated.
Rookie Dennis Kelly did not hold back when asked about Vick's blitz recognition, specifically the blitz in Arizona that caused Vick to fumble the ball.
"Peyton Manning would have seen that coming," said Kelly. "There are just times when he doesn't see things. He never really had to worry about reading defenses before."
Those are some pretty harsh words for his quarterback, and easily the most damaging statement any player or person in the Eagles organization has made about Vick this season. Rumors have circulated that some in the Eagles are not happy with Vick's play recognition, but nothing as concentrate and harsh as that statement has come out.
Kelly, speaking to Geoff Mosher of Comcast Sports Net, denied the comment was meant the way it was published. Kelly said the comment was strung together to sound "worse than it was", and that he plans to speak to Vick once he recovers from the concussion.
This is the kind of finger pointing that the Eagles tried to address in the players only meeting they held a few weeks ago. To have a rookie publicly question Vick, who is supposed to be a franchise quarterback, in a national publication like Sports Illustrated might give a hint to how players in the locker room really feel about him.
Evan Mathis, unlike Kelly, defended his quarterback.
"When we give Vick time, he is one of the best quarterbacks in the league," said Mathis.
Here is what Vick had to say about his pre-snap knowledge in the piece:
"I don't think I'm an expert," admits Vick. "Sometimes I'm not the best at presnap reads; probably 75 to 80 percent of the time I'm dead on."
The piece in Sports Illustrated focuses on the beating Vick has taken this season because of the injuries to the offensive line.
Fair or not, Kelly had no right to question Vick like that. Vick has not come out and said anything critical about his offensive line despite their struggles. For Kelly to question Vick like that not only isn't right, it is another destraction to a team that doens't need them right now.
More than anything, this quote shows poor judgement from Kelly. Why even say anything? What good comes from it?
It will be interesting to see the fall out from Kelly's comments.
Follow Eliot Shorr-Parks on Twitter at @EliotShorrParks
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