CORTLAND — The Jets’ offense did not provide many highlights in Saturday night’s Green and White Scrimmage, but two of them were Michael Vick’s legs.
The 34-year-old quarterback showed he still can run. He had two rushes for 35 yards, one gain of 20 and one of 15. He looked smooth and quick as he took off from the pocket and raced down the field.
“I just wanted to see how I was going to move,” Vick said. “You always want to test your instincts, and you never know what the feel of the game is going to be, or how you are going to react to certain blitzes and pressure. I felt I moved real well in the pocket, I had some nice runs, and hopefully that will transfer over onto the field.”
The man who rushed for more than 1,000 yards in 2006 may have lost a step, but it was hard to tell watching him run around Saturday night. Vick credited the offseason conditioning program with the Jets for the way he feels right now.
“I think the conditioning program we have here is exceptional,” Vick said. “I think [head strength and conditioning coach Justus Galac] does a great job as far as taking care of our bodies. I feel good, I feel quick, I feel fast. At 34 it’s amazing I feel as good as I do. I can honestly say there wasn’t a day in training camp that I have been sore yet, so credit to the training staff and what they do here.”
It is clear Vick is the backup quarterback, with the Jets doing everything but naming Geno Smith the starter. Vick has gotten roughly 25 percent of the first-team reps in training camp and had just one series with the starters on Saturday.
Vick’s running ability does create an interesting possibility for the Jets, even if he is the backup. Would they have a series of plays for him to run?
Former Jets general manager Mike Tannenbaum, who knows Rex Ryan’s thinking as well as anybody, suggested while speaking on the NFL Network that Ryan would have those plays for Vick.
The Jets tried that with Tim Tebow two years ago and it failed miserably. But the Jets coaches never trusted Tebow to throw the ball. Vick has wowed them with his throwing ability.
Ryan won’t reveal if he’s thinking about a special package of plays for Vick, but said Saturday he was impressed with Vick’s speed.
“My gosh. The dude can flat fly and we know he can,” Ryan said. “And [Chris] Johnson still looks like he can run. We definitely have some speed. But against Mike it was funny. I think the funniest play was when he had that big 20-yard run. He knows where the sticks are. We didn’t have a stick up there and he still found it. The most impressive one was when [linebacker] Garrett McIntyre, he sees that it’s Vick and he’s like, ‘Oop.’ He changes his angle and just flies to the sideline. It’s like, ‘Yeah, that’s pretty smart right there,’ and starts grabbing his hamstring a little bit. So yeah, Mike, he can absolutely still run.”
Defensive lineman Sheldon Richardson tried chasing Vick during the scrimmage Saturday night.
“He runs pretty well actually, and he was jogging, most definitely was jogging when I was chasing him so he’s still got them legs, man,” Richardson said. “[He was] slinging the ball too though.”
Outside linebacker Jermaine Cunningham tore his right Achilles tendon in Saturday’s scrimmage and is out for the season, a source confirmed.