Michael Vick has done a lot of highly questionable things during his NFL career. His admission that he wasn't prepared during Sunday's 31-0 loss to the San Diego Chargers on Wednesday wasn't one of them.
ESPN.com reported that embattled New York Jets coach Rex Ryan actually lauded Vick for revealing that he didn't or wasn't prepared when he replaced starting quarterback Geno Smith during the Jets' 31-0 loss to the San Diego Chargers on Sunday.
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"I wanted guys to take a stand and admit that, 'You know what? I can do more,'" Ryan said, according to ESPN. "I think that's what Mike is doing. He knows what's going to be said about him, yet he chose to take that stand."
And that stand was to take the heat of Smith, who tries to turn his season around against the Denver Broncos in week six of the NFL. Vick volunteered some self-sabotage to allow Smith to get ready for the Broncos away from media scrutiny.
He was protecting Smith.
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We're talking about Michael Vick, who ran a dog-fighting operation for years, was kicked out of the league and went to jail. After Vick's admission Wednesday, the last thing 99 percent of NFL fans are thinking about are Vick's fighting day.
The quarterback obviously learned a thing or two about how to deal with the media during his time away from football. Give him a little credit for being media savvy.
As Vick said, he is a 12-year NFL quarterback.
"I felt like I, for some reason, being a quarterback in his 12th year, sometimes you to take things for granted," Vick said Wednesday, according to ESPN. "I think I took the scout team for granted."
Earlier Vick said, "Maybe I didn't prepare or I wasn't prepared, but let me tell you it won't happen again."
Consider how Ryan responded to what normally would be the type of comment that results in a player getting waived. What coach would be sympathetic to a veteran and supposed mentor to a young quarterback who said such an outlandish remark?
And as all the media pundits criticizing Vick noted, how on earth would Vick consider going through the motions when Smith has struggled mightily and has a very tenuous grip on the starting QB role?
It's not as if Vick is backing up Peyton Manning. He doesn't know that? A quarterback does not last in the NFL 12 years, especially with his back story, for being that naïve.
Vick even received the bonus of having his lack of preparation serve as the reason he completed 8 of 19 passes against the Chargers for 47 yards. It wasn't his rustiness or the fact that he could be past his prime that led to his struggles.
It wasn't the fact that the Jets' offense is pathetic.
It was that Vick was unprepared.
Even ESPN admitted the peculiar nature of the unfolding Jets turmoil.
"This was yet another curious chapter in the Jets' ever-compelling quarterback controversy between Vick and Geno Smith, who has made headlines for cursing a fan and missing a team meeting," ESPN reported. "Vick was surprised that his remarks blew up into a huge story, but he wasn't angry. He acknowledged that he 'should've worded it a different way,' but he didn't try to retract any of his opinions. He said he was just giving an honest self-evaluation of himself."
So to sum up: Vick makes an outlandish statement about his lack of preparation, and his coach lauds him for it. Then Vick doesn't get angry when the entire sports world turns on him for his remarks.
And Geno Smith's benching against the Chargers has ceased to be a story and the media are not skewering the Jets for throwing Smith out there against the Broncos.
And Vick shouldn't have said anything?
Do you think Michael Vick was protecting Geno Smith with his remarks that he was not prepared to replace Smith against San Diego last Sunday? Comment below or tell us @SportsWN.
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