Vick OK after injuring hand vs. Steelers
He heard a pop. Just what the Eagles need. Michael Vick hearing a pop in the first preseason game of the year.
“I thought it was broken,” Vick said of his left thumb. “I did the same type of thing last year against Dallas, but I was able to come back the next day and play. But this time I heard a pop and thankfully it was because of the collision and not because of a broken bone.”
The Eagles escaped quite an injury scare Thursday night when X-rays on the thumb on Vick’s left (throwing) hand were negative. Vick smacked his hand on center Jason Kelce’s helmet in the second quarter on his final snap of the Eagles’ 24-23 win over the Steelers at the Linc.
A couple hours after the game, Kelce tweeted: “I guess I'm gonna have to get a softer helmet. Maybe one of these,” along with a photo of an old-time leather helmet.
Vick’s left hand was swollen an hour after the game, but he said he plans to practice on Saturday, when the Eagles get back to work at training camp at Lehigh.
“I lost feeling in it for a second,” Vick said. “Once I got to the sideline, after about 30 minutes, I started getting the feeling back.
“I was just hoping that it wasn’t anything severe, and I was just praying that the season didn’t get off to a horrible start. It swelled up, but it feels a lot better now.
“It’s been a tough week. When I came over to the sideline and I was sitting there wondering if it was something severe with my finger, I could only reflect on what this past week has been like and just praying that my finger wasn’t as bad as I thought. I was pleased to see that the X-rays were negative.”
Vick went 3-for-4 passing for six yards and was sacked once in his brief stint against the Steelers’ starting defense. He got hurt on a third-and-8 incompletion, trying to hit tight end Clay Harbor 17 yards down the field.
“Mike’s fine,” head coach Andy Reid said. “You saw him gripping the ball [at the end of the game]. He just hit the nerve on the top there. Like a stinger on your thumb.”
The two offenses the first offense played netted minus-5 and two yards. Vick was out there for only six snaps.
Vick would have liked to play more. He will play more -- a lot more -- a week from Monday, when the Eagles face the Patriots in Foxboro.
“At the start of a preseason game, especially the first one, you’re ready to go out there and play,” he said. “You want to get the juices flowing, get out there and throw the ball a little bit.
“If it were a regular-season game, we’d have to get going and get re-energized and get out there and make it happen. There’s no excuses. We could have done a better job.”
E-mail Reuben Frank at rfrank@comcastsportsnet.com
