Vick to Start for Eagles

It looks like Michael Vick’s return to starting in the NFL is going to be lasting more than just one week.

The Eagles announced Tuesday that Vick, rather than Kevin Kolb, would start Sunday at Jacksonville. And the move isn't injury related, the team said.

The decision was made largely due to Vick's play on the field, said coach Andy Reid who said he made the decision to go with Vick.

"Vick right now is one of the best starting quarterbacks in the National Football League," said Reid as he addressed the media.

"Very few quarterbacks could go out and play the way (Vick) played the past couple of weeks."

Reid defended Kolb and said that he had no plans of trading the QB he anointed as Donovan McNabb's successor after sending D-Mac to D.C.

The move added fuel to the QB controversy fire especially because of how the announcement was made.

"The Philadelphia Eagles today announced that head coach Andy Reid has named Michael Vick as the team’s starting quarterback," said Eagles spokesman Derek Boyko Tuesday.

Reid isn't worried about concerns that Vick, a former felon convicted of running a dogfighting ring, is now the face of the Eagles franchise. Big Red feels Vick has done enough to repair his image, he said.

Leave it to the Birds to make a major announcement like this right before Roy Halladay toes the mound for the Phillies as they face off against second-place Atlanta Tuesday night. The Eagles did the same thing just hours before the Phillies season opener when they announced that they had traded Donovan McNabb to the Redskins.

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