During Monday night's win over the Washington Redskins, Chip Kelly's Philadelphia Eagles offense played at a frenetic pace never before seen in the NFL.
The attack was highly effective, as the Eagles put up 443 yards in the contest. But will the man running the offense -- Michael Vick -- be able to last at that pace? No, NFL Media's Charley Casserly said.
"We saw Vick limping around. Vick's not gonna last," Casserly, a former NFL general manager, said Tuesday on NFL Network's "Around the League Live." "He's running the ball in this offense, he's not just handing it off."
Durability always has been an issue for Vick. The 33-year-old quarterback has missed 12 games over the past three seasons. After Vick came up limping following a 36-yard run in the fourth quarter, there was cause for concern.
London Fletcher, the Redskins' defensive leader, believes the size of the NFL roster compared to college will be a detriment to any team running an offense that fast.
"One of the things that I was concerned about running this type of offense in the National Football League -- in college, you have so many players," Fletcher said. "You have over 100 players on your football team, but in the National Football League, you only have 53 players. ... Will they be able to sustain this type of pace?"
It's a legitimate question by Fletcher, who has appeared in an NFL-high 241 consecutive games but said he played "the longest first quarter of my life" Monday night.
"I just hope there's not too many other offenses coming into the league like the Philadelphia Eagles (or) I'm gonna run out of this league pretty soon," Fletcher said.
Vick's first five scoring drives averaged 1 minute and 44 seconds. He slowed down considerably in the second half, throwing for just 9 yards, and he was seen walking gingerly following the game.
The nature of Kelly's offense likely will make it harder for Vick to play all 16 games, something he hasn't done since 2006.
Backup Nick Foles should be ready.
