Michael Vick hasn't been nearly as effective in Philadelphia since his standout 2010 season with the Eagles. He traces some of his struggles back to the offensive line coach change from Juan Castillo to Howard Mudd.
"Because Howard and Juan are two totally different personalities and two totally different schemes," Vick recently told Zach Berman of the Philadelphia Inquirer. "And they like their own caliber of players. It was different. But we lost Juan to the defense, so I had to go with what I had to go with."
Vick, preparing for Sunday's season finale against the New York Giants in what should be his final game with the Eagles, was asked if the personnel scheme change negatively affected him.
"Obviously, yeah. Just being honest and candid about the situation," Vick said Thursday. "Things changed dramatically. It is what it is. ... We all kind of gradually worked our way into it until we got comfortable. I had to learn new protection schemes, verbiage. And we shuffled around a lot of players. So everybody had to start all over."
The offensive line changed players and schemes when Mudd arrived. Vick was asked to make protection calls in the system, which didn't work in 2011. The Eagles were going to have center Jason Kelce make the calls in 2012, but Kelce was lost to injury early in the season. Vick also had fewer run options.
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"We mixed it as much as we could, and Marty got it called, and it was successful for us," Vick said, speaking about Eagles offensive coordinator Marty Mornhinweg. "But we just stopped doing it. I don't know if that's what Coach Mudd wanted to do."
Vick said that "in hindsight," the old system worked out better for him. Vick is just trying to be forthright, but this comes across as finger-pointing on his way out the door. He's throwing Mudd under the bus.
There are a lot of people who don't seem thrilled with Mudd's work in Philadelphia, and the coach has said he'll retire after the season. But Vick's failure as a leader to recognize his own short-comings and role in the Eagles' demise is not a new problem.
Follow Gregg Rosenthal on Twitter @greggrosenthal.
