Michael Vick has been activated and placed on the 53 man roster of the Philadelphia Eagles today. This is not a bad move at all because Vick can use all the practice time he can get on the field. With Kevin Kolb projected to start this week when the Saints come marching in and Jeff Garcia serving as his backup I believe it was the right thing to do. WR Hank Baskett has been released by the Eagles to make room for Vick on the roster. Hank is mostly known in Philly for his marriage to former playboy model Kendra Wilkinson more than his memorable plays on the field. Don’t get me wrong, he’s a good athlete with potential. It just wasn’t realized here.

This allows McNabb to rest if he needs to up until after the week 4 bye. Although every win is important, the Eagles can afford a loss to the high powered Saints offense instead of risking further injury to McNabb’s rib. Kevin Kolb hasn’t gotten a start in Philly since being drafted, and he hasn’t turned any heads in spot duty, or the preseason.

The media machine in Philly will be moving at warp speed to make a quarterback controversy out of this situation. As talented as Vick is, he’s not better than McNabb as a quarterback. None of them on this roster is, and the Eagles know that. But he’s injured once again, though the hit on him was late and unnecessary. From all the things I know, a rib injury is very serious and basically every movement you make is painful. If we don’t have to rush McNabb back, then why not keep him on the bench, or at worst make him a backup in case something does happen to the interim starter?

I have an idea; have McNabb meet Favre for some advice on playing with cracked ribs. He seems to be having no ill effects after he said he “might have some cracked ribs”. Anyway, any real fan or watcher of football knows that all the quarterbacks on the Eagles roster are stop gaps with the exception of Vick. And even his future is only based on his ability to learn this offense and be a “traditional” quarterback more than a running quarterback. He doesn’t have the patience to go through his progressions before taking off. And though that makes him exciting to watch, he already knows the price that can be paid for running all the time. He’s been hit, hit hard, and hurt while running. He just watched his friend get hurt while running. Again. The Eagles did the right thing in activating Vick and allowing him to get a head start on live practices with the team and to be an insurance policy in case Kolb stays mediocre and Garcia shows his age on the field (39 this year) until McNabb comes back.

With memories of 2006 dancing through their heads, Philly fans will blindly drool over Garcia again, and the sports media here will do nothing but fuel the fire so they can have something to talk about. I don’t expect Vick to be the savior of the season because McNabb gives the Eagles the best chance to win. But in my opinion, Vick gives McNabb the best chance to rest and heal. Vick also gives defenses more to worry about than either Kolb or Garcia.

Sources: Philadelphiaeagles.com