Vick is down.
 

He's being carted off the field. Knee or ankle injury.

They're saying it is an ankle injury.

Wow! Sounds like bad bad news.

Sideline reporter says they're thinking ankle sprain at this point.

Arthur Blank has gone into the locker room to be with him.

Doug Johnson hits a 42-yard completion on his first play of the night.

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/football/news/2003/08/16/vick_injury_ap/

Here is a link at CNNSI

That really sucks!!!:(

Lets hope it's not a serious injury....

Fractured fibula...just reported on Falcon's broadcast.

Just not good. Good thing we have Doug Johnson.

FBPro beat me to it, fractured right fibula.

Braves broadcast is saying out 8-10 week.s

:( So much for my football season having excitement :(

fractured right fibula - hey, its not an ACL

It was only a matter of time.

This was just a matter of time. A wonderful talent, but these guys who run so much inevitably get hurt in the pros. Steve Young is the only exception I can think of.

The Madden cover curse continues...

That sound you hear btw is the hissing of the air being let out of the Falcons balloon.

Meanwhile, here's a recent column by veteran Atl sportswriter Furman Bisher about the value of Doug Johnson
Bisher on Johnson

And since this is FOFC & the thread is about Vick, here's an AJC article about the "Video Vick" & what the real thing thinks about himself in the new Madden.
http://www.ajc.com/falcons/content/s...4vickgame.html

Reason #88 I wait until pre-season is almost over to draft my fantasy teams.

Yeah, I had to run over to Yahoo and ink Doug Johnson to a deal before my season was over before it began. I hate drafting fantasy teams early, but I put up with it because it is free. In my money leagues, we always do the draft mid-week before opening weekend.

Falcons fans, could this be a blessing in disguise?

1. Doug Johnson isn't exactly chopped liver.
2. Spotlight and pressure is now on offensive line. Vick covered up their mistakes quite often. Johnson won't. Perhaps this unit, which is pretty young other than Whitfield, to re-focus and step it up and notch in the first half of the season and then....
3. Vick returns mid-season, isn't quite as mobile, but is playing being a much-improved offensive line.

Looking for a silver lining,

--Ben

go panthers

I'm a Dallas fan but I was really looking forward to watching Vick this season. Hope he recovers quickly

Could be, let's hope this is the case.

six weeks isn't complete devastation. Vick has usually been a pretty quick healer in the past. He may only be out 3 to 4 regular season games.

Not sure what the "it was only a matter of time" opinions are. Was it only a matter of time before Marino blew out his achilles? Vick was sacked moving up in the pocket looking for a WR, not as a RB 10 yards downfield. There have been a lot of running QB's who have stayed pretty healthy in their careers.

In other news. . . the Jake Plummer from Arizona showed up tonight in Denver. He was terrible.

TroyF

One of my friends drafted Vick 9th overall, sucks for him.

Atlanta certainly has a big drop off with Johnson but their WR's are improved over last season and HOPEFULLY someone has sold TJ Duckett a clue and their running backs improve. All is not lost if he is gone for 3-4 weeks.

I will explain my position, Troy.

Yes, he was hit in the backfield, but because of the amount of times he runs, he gets hit a lot, and eventually the odds catch up with you. And let's face it, he is not the biggest guy on the field. He just looks like he is going to get broken in half out there. I thought so when he was drated and I still think that he will suffer many more injures in his career as long as he is being a part time running back.

LOL!!!

Bob Whitfield was just asked about Vick's injury on-camera. His response, and it got past the censors: "Well, shit happens." :D

Great, at least the Vick Hype machine will be silent for a few weeks - to me this guy is just another Randall Cuningham - looks great and exciting, but will probably never live up to the hype.

Give me Plummer any day of the week :)

Vick should end up with a more successful pro career than Cunningham. I think he's smarter. I was looking forward to watching him hooking up with Price. Hopefully he recovers soon.

Weird coincidence, In the season of Madden I was simming yesterdy and today Vick missed most of the preseason and about half the regular season. I can't remember what the injury was though.

Glady.......you can have Plummer, Leaf and I'll even throw in Andre Ware.

:)

Kurt Kittner baby! :D

"This was just a matter of time. A wonderful talent, but these guys who run so much inevitably get hurt in the pros. Steve Young is the only exception I can think of."

You mean other than all the concussions he got, right? :)

What did you expect from Jake Plummer???

I like Jake Plummer :(

Actually, I expected he'd suck. I was probably the only person in Denver who wanted Brian Greise to stay.

TroyF

I always thought that Vick would become one of those players who had so much potential but would end up being a player who has a career of injuries. I hope he comes back sooner then 8-10 weeks because he's fun to watch.

Drafted him 11th overall myself. *sigh*

Kept him in my keeper league, of course we drafted *yesterday*. Thankfully I picked up Brooks and McNair, so things could be worse.

Could be worse. I drafted Micheal Bennett 3rd overall in one league, and I knew he was injured. I'm so fucking stupid. :(

That's too bad, the Bucs will only get to shut him and his press corp down once this year...Stay healthy for week 16 Vic!!!!

Spoken like a true Illini!!!

On the other hand, this really stinks that Vick is hurt, damn I love to watch him play. Anyone who can whip the Pack in their own house, in the playoffs no less...has earned my lifelong respect.

Ahh!!! Vick!! Please get better! I was REALLY looking forward to watching the Falcons this year... this really sucks :(

Looked bad last night. If Johnson goes down, the Falcons will be in big trouble. I think Johnson will show his value.




I think you saw the same thing I did, SD. The second Doug got in there, the line could suddenly block. I don't know if Vick motivates the Defense of other teams so much that they really burn it while he is in there, or if the O-line gets motivated because they know they have to give Johnson more time. You definitely saw a 2-3 second difference in pocket protection between what Vick had and what Johnson had.

Only missing 4 weeks of the regular season isn't bad. I think it might benifit the Falcons by having the other skill players step-it up also. This team has much more talent on the offensive side of the ball compared to last year, so it will just be up to Johnson to show he can run a offense.

You guys won't believe this. You know what I was doing last night? Attending a fantasy football draft at a friend's house. You know what I did? Oh yeah...

We drafted the first round, with one guy running behind. He was the first pick and called his in on his cell. We finished the first round by the time he walked through the door, including me taking Vick with the sixth overall pick. He looked up at our draft board (yes, we had an imprmptu draft board :) ), and said, "Isn't Vick hurt?"

I stared bug-eyed at him and asked him what he was talking about. No one else did either--none of us had heard anything. But then when we presed him on it, it turned out he was talking about some offseason surgery that he thought was going to affect Vick, we all let let out sighs of relief, me a big one. So then it became a running joke, that Vick was hurt.

Ten rounds go by, and not only do I have Vick, but because of a confluence of receiver picks, I found myself forced to take Peerless Price (I usually don't like to match my receiver and quarterback, with byes and bad games putting you of action).

So we turn on a sports TV show around then, and what's almost the first thing we see? "Vick Injured"...NOOOOOO!!!!!

What are the odds? What are the freaking odds? :rolleyes:

Anyway, I also drafted Trent Green, who I think is going to have a huge year, and Tom Brady, who is effective. But you gotta know losing your first round pick like that isn't going to be doing me much good. :(

Get well, Michael. For the first time, I actually care that you're playing. :)

Chief Rum

At least it happened early in preseason. Imagine if it happened in the last week of the preseason. That'd be 2 more weeks of regular season action he'd be out.

WHAT ABOUT FAVRE?
Not a guy who runs up field a lot but he runs around the backfield enough to equal just about any "running" QB in being free of the protection of his lineman..........and he has never missed a start...until now cause i just jinxed him but anyways..........

Maybe the Cowboys will have a chance in Week 1 now...

I don't have an opinion one way or another on if running quarterbacks are more subjected to injury than pocket passers, and I agree that Favre is very elusive within a small space, but, Cringer, you're going to have to come up with an actual running quarterback who stays healthy to fight that point. As much as Favre dances around, he is still pretty much the ultimate pocket passer, and not a running quarterback at all. If I look up pocket passer in the dictionary, I don't look under 'P', but 'F'.

CR

I think there will be surprisingly little drop-off in the Atlanta offense. They've got 2 backs to carry the rushing load, and Doug Johnson has always looked great when playing. I think they'll certainly hold it together until Vick is ready. For his sake I hope the team is doing well so he doesn't have to rush his recovery.

cthomer -- What's more interesting to me potentially is whether, if Johnson does indeed hold them together, anybody will really care as long as Vick isn't on the field?

The Falcons entire marketing campaign seems to have been built around Vick and a significant amount of attention was given to marketing the team specifically to the African-American community. Will those fans respond to Johnson regardless of how he performs?

My bet is that a Johnson-led Falcon team could be 3-1 by October 5th, but if Vick isn't playing, they'll be hosting the Vikes to at least a 1/4 no-show crowd. And if they manage to lose to Dallas, the no-shows will be in full force for the home opener in week 2.

Remember this ...
1998 Falcons (14-2, NFC Champs)
Avg att last 4 home games - 65,381
Avg att 8 home games - 57,184

2002 Falcons (9-7-1, with Vick)
Avg home - 68, 871

Atlanta as a city, IMO, has less interest in winning without Vick than they do in losing with him.

That's some interesting stuff, although you'd have to consider the ticket price reduction. He's clearly the "it" player in the league right now, so I'd expect you're right about them taking an attendance hit. Personally, I wouldn't care as long as my team was winning, but I'm sure the casual fan feels differently.

I predict Doug Johnson plays well, Vick takes his time, and returns to the lineup for the St. Louis game. If this happens to be the case, I'd expect Monday Night Football to see some huge ratings.

And you thought MNF games were already hyped up enough ;). If THIS happens, it'll be an utter circus :D.

Atlanta loves winning football. Notice the attendance jump in your own example, and the city still didn't believe in that team (untill the Viking playoff game). It is a bit different now. I'm still hearing good buzz, and even recent bandwagoners or saying "this is still a good team." Price, Dunn and Brookings are real popular players right now.

GD: I still think that, even if people think it is a good team, that Vick's injury is seriously going to depress attendance. Hell, maybe I'll even be able to get a ticket for a game ;).

GrantDawg - time will certainly tell, but you're hearing things that I'm not. Discounting any lip service the subject got on sportstalk radio today, I simply don't believe Atlanta will ever give a genuine damn about the NFL in any great numbers.

It's a college football town/area, plain & simple, and a 6-5 UGA would outdraw a 14-2 Falcons every single time. The NFL ticket buyers remind me of the the Hawks ticket buyers several years back. They're there to be "entertained", winning is secondary at best.

Of course. How else do you explain the off-season season ticket bump based on someone hyped as Mr. Excitement? I perceive that Atlanta area sports fans are certainly jaded regarding their pro teams where it would take something hyped like Vick to get folks interested instead of a winning team (like after 1998) or the fact of just having an NFL team period (like in many cities).

To SOME degree you're right there. The '98 14-2 Falcons? You bet the Dawgs would outdraw 'em at 6-5. A 14-2 Falcons team with Vick at QB sells out every single week though. The MANY casual observers in Atlanta (I'm talking about all these Yankee-fied folks who live here who don't care about the Dawgs or Jackets--dadgum atheists!) are interested in seeing Vick, even if they aren't really football fans. They don't care about football that much, but Vick is exciting. You're right in saying that there are more die-hard college football fans than there are die-hard pro football fans in this area. Vick draws the non die-hards like no one ever has here.

Atlanta football is similar to Philadelphia basketball. Both want the college teams to do so well they ignore the pro possibilities sometimes.

Atlanta is generally regarded as a poor sports town. I think if you say fans are spoiled over the Braves success then that is fine. However they DO support their college teams regardless of record.

Philadelphia cared a great deal about the 76er's when they went to the finals, then virtually forgot about them the next year. Yet when Temple is in the NIT tourney that is major news. Some cities just prefer their collegiate events to pro events.

I don't think "jaded" is really the right word. You've got five college football programs that draw 80,000+ nearly every Saturday afternoon within easy driving distance (Georgia, Auburn, Tennessee, Clemson, 'Bama). There are plenty of grads from all five of those schools in Atlanta, and their #1 loyalty is to the college team.

SD - and even if there are plenty of grads to fill those seats, I'd argue that they aren't the only ones doing it. The overall interest level (IMO) isn't generated by the alums but rather by folks who've never stepped foot inside a classroom at any of the schools.

LOL. You may be right there Jon. ;)

Scratch that.

I thought this guy was going to be pretty good. He is just horrid.

Sounds like the old adage about the second string qb being the best guy in the NFL until he plays.

Since I have him languishing on my fantasy football bench- could you guys bring some local comments towards why TJ Duckett doesn't get the ball that much? He just not that good? Or Reeves reluctant to play him or what? I mean, at the end of the 3rd quarter, they have a grand total of 10 yards.

SI

The writers here can't really figure that one out either. There are various theories as to why, but I don't think anyone but Dan Reeves knows for sure.

Dan Reeves doesn't like him. He is a 255 pound back that has public said he isn't paid to block. He doesn't work on picking up the blitz, and in general is just on Reeves crap list. Compare that to Dunn who would play offensive line if asked, and....

As for the first comment, not really. I never thought he was a great QB, but I did think he was better than the bottom 25% of starters in the league. He has proven me wrong. He'll be lucky to get a back-up job next year at this point.

I remember that for the longest time, Oilers backup QB Cody Carlson was the second coming of Jesus whenever Warren Moon would have a bad week.

SI

I wouldn't bury DJ just yet, I mean, he was playing against the best defense the league has seen since the 85 Bears and equal to the 90 Eagles :)

Falcons QB - Mike Vick vs Bucs
2002 Game #1 - 4-12 for 37 yards (1 rush for 1 yard)
2002 Game #2 - 12-25 for 125 yards (6 rush for 10 yards) 1 TD and 1 INT

Falcons QB - Doug Johnson vs Bucs
2003 Game #1 - 13-19 for 95 yards (1 rush for 4 yards) 3 INTs

Falcons QB - K Kittner vs Bucs
2003 Game #1 - 5-12 for 32 yards 1 INT

Falcons QB - W Dantzler vs Bucs
2003 Game #1 - 0-0 for 0 yards (3 rush for 6 yards)

Nah, I'm not burying him yet. He had 2 TDs last week and I've still got spots for him as I try to desperately patch up a bad recieving corp, but I figured this is the perfect place to get some advice from some people closer to the situation.

SI

And then one fateful day the world was introduced to the Bills backup QB Frank Reich and Cody was never heard from again.... :)

It isn't just what he did against the Bucs. It has been his all around play in three games. Stinks.

And just to point something out, DJ threw two of his interceptions yesterday when he was under little pressure and had wide open recievers. He was way off target with both throws. He did the exact same thing against Washington and Dallas (missing wide open recievers with mis-throws).

*kicks Dutch in the shins for bring that Blackest of Days up* That one hurt. That one hurt bad.

SI

Pretty good column in Monday's Macon Telegraph

"The Atlanta Falcons' relevance, both in the NFL and with its fans, hinges on one player

ATLANTA - The Atlanta Falcons' relevance, both in the NFL and with its fans, hinges on one player.

Unfortunately for the club, franchise quarterback Michael Vick is still at least two weeks away from suiting up.

With Vick still hobbled by a broken fibula in his right leg, the Falcons are quickly returning to NFL obscurity, just another punchless team that dots the schedule.

Sunday, Atlanta was mere fodder for the depending Super Bowl champion Tampa Bay Buccaneers, who waltzed to a 31-10 victory in front of a less-than-enthused Georgia Dome crowd. Many failed to show up and those who did, and weren't wearing Bucs jerseys, found the exits long before the final gun.

It's hard to blame them."

The full column is at
http://www.macon.com/mld/macon/6828778.htm

Doug has really dissapointed. And there was such praise for him in the preseason (the "it ain't over yet" stuff that everyone was saying when Vick went down). :(

In the one game he started last year, he had a stellar performance on the road against the Giants, thus the (false) hope that he is a legit NFL QB. Unfortunately, that 60.0 QB Rating in three starts isn't looking too good now. As has been mentioned earlier, two of his interceptions against the Bucs were when he had all the time he needed to throw, AND an open receiver streaking toward the zone. If he hits those two passes, it is a completely different ball game.

As some people on the radio were pointing out this morning, you can't lay the whole blame on DJ. Yes, he blew some passes and missed some wide open recievers. But you can't blame DJ for 29 TOTAL YARDS RUSHING and you can't blame DJ for tackles that were missed (unless of course you are referring to the offense trying to tackle a Bucc after a DJ INT). DJ isn't the one missing tackles on D. DJ isn't the one who isn't opening holes for the running backs. DJ isn't the one doing the playcalling (for the most part). Yes, DJ deserves some blame, but so does the offensive line, and the defense, and the head coach.

I don't think anyone is suggesting he is the "only" problem, but there is no denying he is a problem.

There is of course the whole Chemistry aspect....maybe Doug is a Virgo and Peerless Price has a strong conflict with that? :D

Anyone who thought DJ wasn't going to be a problem, was kidding themselves.

I think those who say DJ is -the- problem are actually going a bit too far with the sacrificial lamb..

Is DJ going to be on my fantasy team? No probably not.. But he is at least servicable. He is not worse or much worse than a good number of other team's QBs in the league... That being said, DJ is capable of making mistakes that blow a game as well as he is likely to not be the type who single handedly wins the game for you...

With all of that, DJ is not the biggest problem on this team. The biggest problem on this team will still exist when Vick gets back even. Right now Atlanta is scoring 22.7 points per game. Thats better than half of the other NFC teams. The problem is that they give up 25.7 points per game which is only better than Dallas, Chicago, Arizona and Detroit in the NFC. The fact they did that vs the 5th, 6th and 11th ranked offenses in the NFC makes me wonder if those offenses are really that good, or just that highly ranked because of their games vs the Atlanta Defense.

Even when Vick gets back, you can only win so many games 35-32.. The biggest problem is the defense, and that needs to be fixed asap...

Again, please point to someone who said DJ is the only problem. I have yet to see that person. He is a problem, and anyone who says he is not has their head in the sand. I would say at this point it is questionable that he is a servicable QB. Just watch him. He is flustered easily, makes bad desicions, and is not accurate. What exactly does he do that makes him servicable?

There is no doubt there is a problem on defense. Of course, it will help the defense a good bit if the offense could sustain drives. The rushing yardage so far is embarrasing. Less three and outs will make a difference on defense (which the days of the chuck-and-duck proved). Getting Carpenter and Hall back in the secondary will be a big help, too.

I guess I am struggling to understand what exactly you expect from our backup QB then... In the age of the salary cap, you can't go and afford to have to starting QBs on the roster.. heck there are several teams that don't even have one QB that is as good as DJ. Am I happy with the results so far? No.. and I wait anxiously for Vick to get back as he single handedly makes the Falcons a much more dangerous and explosive offense... but I think everyone is making a scape goat of the backup QB when we have a much larger problem..

I hope you are right about the secondary improving when we heal up some, but still the fact remains that right now anyone who wants can run on us and anyone who wants can pass on us. Vick won't fix that when he comes back. And if the Falcons don't find a fix soon, we might as well start looking to next year.

What Philly had last year ;).

That sure would be nice. :) At least he should be severicable. This is about expectations. We were told by those around the team that DJ looked like a starting caliber Back-up. At this time, he doesn't even look like a servicable back-up. I think his arrogance gets in the way of his learning from mistakes, and that will prevent him from ever being what he was projected to be.

Again, I never said that the Defense wasn't a problem, and I nor have I seen anyone else "scapegoat" DJ. But to say he is not a problem is like saying the head wound is not a problem compared to the gaping chest wound.