Kolb's Game

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Big Red said on his radio show that Kevin Kolb would start the Jets game on Thursday. Mike Vick will be mixed in during the 1st half and even the 3rd Qtr. AJ may play the 4th quarter or Reid may decide that Kolb needs the extra reps and let him finish things out.

Kevin played well in the Jags game. He had the shaky start with the safety, but that was due to someone failing to pick up a blitzer. He settled down and played well after that. Kevin threw the ball pretty well. He worked the whole field. Some backups will come in and just throw short stuff to the RBs. Kevin used the sidelines and middle and mixed in various targets. Who knew Eugene Bright could actually run?

Kevin led us on the game winning drive. That was good to see. It's only a preseason game, but things like that are important for backup players. He was faced with a deficit and led the team from behind. Kevin faced backups, but was also playing with backups. That stuff sort of evens out.

You can bet the Jets will do a lot of elaborate blitzing. Rex Ryan did that in Baltimore when he ran the Ravens defense, even in the preseason. This will be a good test for Kevin. He needs to show he can read the blitz and also handle pressure on those plays when guys do come free. Not all blitzes get blocked.

Kevin hasn't had the greatest spring/summer. He didn't light it up at Lehigh and then got hurt. He rebounded with a good showing last week and another good game would make the team much more comfortable with his situation. Kevin has to earn the backup QB job. AR will always say stuff like "He's our guy", but we have seen recently that players who don't perform well will be challenged. Quintin Demps was the FS. Then Macho Harris got some reps with the starters. Joe Mays was the MLB. Then Moise Fokou got some reps with the 1's. Kolb, even though he's a Reid guy, has to earn his spot at the table.

It will be interesting to see what they do with Vick. Personally, I'd use him as a role player for about 2 1/2 quarters and then let him finish the game at QB. He does need some "normal" snaps under Center. Sure, he'd be facing lousy competition for a guy with his skills, but Vick needs reps. He just needs to get back in the habit of playing football against live competition.

THE REAL MIKE SITUATION TO WATCH

Stewart Bradley is a selfish jerk. He went and tore his ACL just so he could prove how valuable he is to the team. What a show-off.

Since losing him MLB has been "interesting". I think it was easier for Henry VIII to find a wife than us to find Disco Stew's replacement. Joe Mays got the job and went from an attacking, aggressive backup to a tentative starter. We gave that 3 weeks and then decided to go with the fall back plan of Omar Gaither. He was coming off a knee sprain, but was now healthy enough to practice. Or so we thought. Then Omar got hurt on Monday while playing with the starters. Hopefully he's okay, but it leaves MLB in a tenuous situation.

Rookie Moise Fokou had never played MLB prior to last week. The team mixed him in during practice and then gave him some game reps. Fokou looked pretty good in the middle. He's playing aggressive, instinctive football right now. He gets to the ball and tackles well.

I gotta tell you...there is part of me that thinks Fokou should get the job. I happened to watch the MIN/HOU preseason game last night. Lord Favre was interesting, but the guy that I kept focusing on was Texans MLB Demeco Ryans. He was always around the ball or making something happen. He just had "it". Fokou wasn't that kind of player in college, but he's shown some of that ability in his short time as an Eagle. I'm not sure if Fokou is prepared to play MLB right now, but I do hope the coaches mix him in so we can see what he does.

I liked Fokou at Maryland. There was something about him that caught my eye. I felt he was very raw and would take time to develop. I thought he'd need quite a bit of coaching. Well apparently Moise is a quick learner and he and coach Bill Shuey are on the same page. Fokou is way ahead of schedule. Impressive young player.


READERS COMMENTS

RE: Matt Jones

I'll pass. Matt is certainly a talented player, but he's the kind of guy you need to bring in back in April or May so he can learn the offense and adjust to your way of doing things. Adding him now wouldn't make sense. Last season the light started to come on for him as a player, but he got in trouble and that really hurt him. Underachievers with character issues are not highly sought after.


RE: Quintin Demps

I'm not sure if Andy made FS a competition because he was dissatisfied with Demps or if he was that happy with Macho Harris. Like Fokou, Macho has shown that he is a quick learner. I figured Macho would adjust quickly to the NFL. He was a very instinctive player at VT. Moving him to Safety doesn't seem to have slowed him at all. Macho had the skill set for the new position. He's at his best with his eyes on the QB. Macho likes to read plays and attack the ball. Playing Safety allows him to do that. Plus, he's a good hitter and tackler.

Demps hasn't struggled from what I've seen. The one thing that none of us can judge from the outside is assignments. Coaches know what a player is supposed to do on each snap. We have to guess based on what we see. And half the time the FS is out of the picture on TV. That makes judging these guys even tougher.

I'll ask around and see if I can pick anything up. I just don't know how to read this situation.


RE: LDE

Victor didn't start vs the Jags. That was odd. I'm not sure if Andy is trying to keep a sense of competition there by having them alternate starts or if Juqua was simply playing better in practice. The team wants VA to have the job, but they want him to win it. It will be interesting to see if he plays this week. VA needs all the reps he can get, but also has been fragile. Do you risk him playing in a meaningless game for 30 extra game reps? Maybe.
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