After watching Michael Vick turn Lambeau Field into his private recital hall Sunday–running, throwing, faking and turning the Green Bay Packers into observers in their own home–Bears pro scout Bobby DePaul sat in the press box to gather his thoughts.
“I had to stop and think to myself, `What did I just see?'” DePaul said.
He had seen a 22-year-old quarterback who could still be in college doing things for the Atlanta Falcons that a lot of quarterbacks either do or try to do every week. What is different about Vick is he plays in fast-forward, as if he were an isolated image superimposed on a regular-speed game.
“I’m just amazed by how fast he is compared to everybody else on the field,” DePaul said.
Whether his 40-yard time is 4.3 or 4.2 or 4.1, Vick already is faster than any quarterback who has played in the NFL. This fact alone makes him seem even faster because many quarterbacks over the years have been the slowest players on the field.
“That dude is amazing,” said Darrien Gordon, who played with Vick last season before joining the Packers as a free agent. “He’s going to revolutionize that position.”
Already has. The concept is simple. Take the fastest player on the field and give him the ball every play, not just occasionally as a receiver or running back. What a good idea.
The raves are consistent.
The St. Louis Rams, who pride themselves on team speed, saw Vick in one of his two rookie starts. Said defensive end Leonard Little: “He’s the fastest guy I’ve ever seen in my life. He’s fast on film. When you’re playing against him, it’s a whole new level.”
If the only thing defenses had to do was chase the kid, they would eventually catch up. Vick also happens to have a cannon arm. The combination of legs and arm at Virginia Tech was impressive enough for the Falcons to trade up and stake their future on him. The doubts about accuracy and aptitude were enough for the San Diego Chargers to trade away their shot at him with the No. 1 pick.
In eight rookie appearances behind Chris Chandler, now a Bear, Vick completed only 44.2 percent of his passes and looked lost. In relief of Chandler against the Bears last Oct. 7 in his first extended pro appearance, Vick completed a season-best 12-of-18 passes but was sacked five times and fumbled twice. Brian Urlacher returned one fumble 90 yards for a touchdown.
Vick was only a 54.4 percent passer in limited action during four winning exhibition games, but against Green Bay he completed his first 10 and finished 15-of-23 with two dropped touchdown passes in a 37-34 overtime loss. Never rattled, Vick called five or six audibles and ran nine times for a team-leading 72 yards.
“Where he’s most accurate is outside the pocket,” DePaul said. “However, against Green Bay, you saw accuracy as a drop-back passer.”
The Packers refrained from blitzing early in order to keep him in the pocket but got burned. When Vick gets on the perimeter, it’s like a fast break. Once, he scored. Another time, he dumped an easy touchdown pass.
“I was trying to think what I could compare it to,” DePaul said. “It was like basketball on grass. He looked like Michael Jordan playing point guard.”
“He can play,” Chandler said. “People say, `Is he that smart?’ Yeah, he understands the game. He seems to always be in control of himself. He doesn’t get rattled, all that stuff. Pretty calm guy.”
Within minutes of the disappointing loss to the Packers, Vick started talking about this week’s visit by the Bears, who embarrassed the Falcons 31-3 and shook Vick.
“The Bears’ game really threw me because I passed the ball well, but there were so many things I didn’t do, mentally, that showed me this game is not played from a physical point,” Vick said. “I’ve got all the physical tools. I’ve got the big-time arm and the speed. But, if I don’t have the brain, then I can’t do it.”
Bobby Beathard, who joined the Falcons as an adviser to new owner Arthur Blank, said Vick “works so hard. He’s the exact opposite of the guy I drafted.”
Beathard was out of football after his disastrous drafting of Ryan Leaf for the San Diego Chargers in 1998.
Atlanta coach Dan Reeves has simplified the play-calling, but Chandler said that doesn’t mean the system has been dumbed down for Vick.
“I wouldn’t necessarily say it’s because he needed it simpler; I just think, why not make it easier for everybody?” Chandler said. “It wasn’t any treat for me for five years calling some of these plays either. It’s not a reflection that he’s not able to do it.”
Vick gave an example of a play-call: “Last year it was `King left, trips, Z-fade, B-235 quarterback pass, wing 8-Y-8.’ And this year, it’s just, `King left, trips, flame-5, 515 8-8.'”
Vick gives Chandler credit for helping him even though Chandler wasn’t comfortable with yet another phenom replacing him, the pattern of Chandler’s 15-year career.
“We’d sit there and watch films, and he can tell you what is going to happen before it even happens just by a guy moving his feet or something,” Vick said. “Ways to pick up blitzes. When to [call audibles]. That’s how smart he was.”
Chandler said he also advised Vick to be careful about running because injury lurks regardless of speed. Most young quarterbacks don’t become good ones until they realize their main job is to deliver the ball to more skilled athletes instead of trying to do too much themselves. In Vick’s case, it could be a particularly difficult lesson because nobody is more skilled. Packers coach Mike Sherman expressed a practice challenge Bears coach Dick Jauron will face this week.
“There’s no one on this field that can emulate what he does as far as his speed and his capability at quarterback,” Sherman said.
Against the Packers, Vick did distribute the ball to seven receivers that would have been eight had tight end Reggie Kelly held on to a pass in the end zone.
“I knew I had some great players around me,” Vick said. “Warrick [Dunn] had a great game. T.J. [Duckett] had a great game. We wanted to get everybody involved in the offense.”
Falcons receiver Shawn Jefferson has cautioned Vick to stay upbeat when plays go awry.
“He thought that was my weakness last year, that whenever I made a mistake I always put my head down and got down about it,” Vick said.
Soft-spoken, Vick had trouble making himself heard in the huddle as a rookie, but not in Green Bay, according to fullback Bob Christian, an ex-Bear who caught a 55-yard pass.
“He’s probably the most gifted athlete I think I’ve ever seen or been around,” Christian said. “It’s a pleasure to get a chance to play with him. He puts all of us in awe. We see some of the things he does and we’re just like, `Wow.’ It’s going to be a fun year.
“Ever since I’ve been playing with him, every single game he’s come out and done better.”
Asked if Green Bay was his coming-out party, Vick said: “I think it’s somewhere down the road. I think it’s too early to say that. I think right now I’m just playing and learning as I go, and [quarterbacks] coach Jack [Burns] has put me in some good situations throwing the football. I think my best days are yet to come as I mature mentally.”
Inside the numbers
Height: 6-0.
Weight: 215.
College: Virginia Tech.
Games/starts: 9/3.
Birth date: 6/26/1980.
Birthplace: Newport News, Va.
Drafted: 1st overall in 2001 by the Falcons and in the 30th round of the 2000 baseball draft by the Colorado Rockies.
Notable: Vick set career highs in numerous categories in the Falcons’ opener Sunday at Green Bay. Here are his numbers from Sunday and his high from the 2001 season:
CATEGORY SUN. 2001
Attempts 23 30
Completions 15 12
Yards 209 214
Touchdowns 2 1
Long pass 55 52
Rushes 9 6
Yards 72 63
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