Michael Vick is thankful for his second chance at NFL life with the Philadelphia Eagles. But the quarterback can't help but wonder what the first part of his career would have been like had he studied the playbook more.
"(I) probably would have already had a ring on my finger," Vick told NFL Network's "NFL Total Access" during an interview that will air Wednesday at 7 p.m. ET. "But that's easy to say. With any team, you still have to have 11 guys on offense, defense, special teams that can put it all together. But I would have made a better contribution. I just give thanks now that I'm an even better quarterback. I give a lot of credit to coaches for that."
It's a great "what if," but we're not sure Vick could have pushed those Atlanta Falcons teams over the hump, no matter how much he studied and how little he was involved in dogfighting. They won more than nine games only once during Vick's run.
"I know I would have been better," Vick said. "Maybe if I would have put more time into my craft, I could have done some things differently."
The narrative around Vick now is that he has changed his work habits and everything is great. But we're wary of easily packaged narratives. He's coming off an injury-plagued year during which he was far less effective than in 2010. If Vick declines any more this season and the Eagles don't make the playoffs again, it's fair to wonder if Vick will be searching for his ring with a third team in 2013.
