Vick regrets that he couldn't help Steelers more, but understands why he is No. 3 QB

November 24, 2015
By Ed Bouchette / Pittsburgh Post-Gazette



Mike Vick went from helping to keep the Steelers afloat, from starting three games, winning two and holding the lead in another, to No. 3 quarterback behind Landry Jones and not suiting up the past four games.

If he has a hand in the outcome Sunday, it will have to come this week in practice when he mimics mobile Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson in practice for the Steelers defense. Then, he will again watch out of uniform as Ben Roethlisberger takes CenturyLink Field in Seattle and Jones backs him up.

Once one of the NFL’s most dynamic quarterbacks, Vick finds himself in a position where the only way he can help now is through injury, in practices or as a sideline consultant.

“There’s still a lot of football games,” Vick said after the Steelers resumed practice Monday after their long weekend off. “I just have to do whatever I’m asked to do. I’m not in position to cry about it or talk about it. I have to be the consummate pro right now.

“I can say, do I like it? I can’t say it’s something as a competitor you want to do, but you have to keep rolling with the punches.

“I understand it, I understand the whole situation, and that makes it easier.”

The situation is this: Vick, signed late in the preseason, lost his job as a backup even though he was 2-1 as a starter and helped guide the Steelers to a 12-6 victory in St. Louis as a reliever. There, in the season’s third game, Roethlisberger left in the third quarter with a knee injury that would keep him out for the next four games.

Vick started the next game against Baltimore but two missed Josh Scobee field goals helped the Ravens win in overtime. He then started and won at San Diego. He left early in his next start against Arizona with a hamstring injury, and Jones came on to direct the offense to four consecutive scoring drives and a victory.

Jones started the next game, a loss in Kansas City, but Steelers coaches have decided to stay with the younger quarterback as No. 2, partly because he knows the offense much better. It was Jones who started their most recent game against Cleveland before he, too, was hurt, and Roethlisberger finished up the victory.

The Steelers did not sign Vick until Aug. 25, and he missed all of training camp at Saint Vincent College in Latrobe. He then took over as their quarterback one month later.

Although signed to a one-year contract, he would like to try it with them again next year with a full spring and training camp.

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