Michael Vick Injury: Why His Postgame Commments Are off the Mark

Eagles quarterback Michael Vick has a broken right hand, and he’s unhappy in the extreme about how it happened.

His displeasure was more with the officials than with Giants’ defensive tackle Chris Canty, although he said Canty hit him late after he’d let a pass fly for Jeremy Maclin.

Vick is so used to that. He’s also used to officials letting the play go with no call, and in his post-game press conference he said it happens all the time.

"

"I felt I got hit late," Vick said. "There was no flag and I broke my hand."

"

Canty didn’t do the damage even though he took the quarterback down hard; Vick’s right hand hit the ground as he attempted to brace himself as he was going down. That’s when the break happened.

And it wasn't nearly as clear-cut as Vick made it sound that Canty's hit came late.

"

"I was trying to protect myself," he said. "Still, that didn’t get a flag. And that’s pretty much been the story the last three weeks. At some point you know something catastrophic will happen. This is not to blame the refs (but) more precautions should be taken when I’m in the pocket."

"

Maybe he wasn’t blaming the refs, but it certainly sounded as if he was.

The fact is that officials tend to prospect pure dropback passers more than the agile ones like Vick, who is a legitimate first down threat with his feet, making things tough for the defense. Is that unfair? Probably. But it’s the way it is.

To be fair to Vick, this is the second consecutive week that the veteran has left a game early due to injury. He suffered a concussion in Week 2 and midweek it wasn’t certain that he’d be able to play against the Giants.

He did, hitting on 16 of his 23 pass attempts before the injury and ran four times for 31 yards.

The Eagles, who had a 16-14 lead under Vick, let the game slip away, and the ensuing 29-16 loss may have had something to do with Vick’s displeasure.

"

"When I’m I the pocket, I’m on the ground every time. It’s unfortunate for myself. It’s unfortunate for my team. I’d be lying to say I’m not frustrated. I don’t know if I’ll be able to play next week. I don’t know anything right now except my hand is broken and we’ll have to see what’s the next move."

"