Updated: Vick to play with starters on Thursday

Update: Andy Reid has announced that Donovan McNabb will play the first 3 quarters at quarterback and Kevin Kolb will play in the 4th quarter. Michael Vick will play, and it will be with the starters. Reid did not say if it would be at quarterback or in a Wildcat formation with McNabb on the field. Perhaps the Eagles are going to experiment a bit? A.J. Feeley is still the odd man out and won't likely play.

Previously:
It looks like Michael Vick is finally going to take the field for the Eagles! Vick hasn't yet been cleared to play regular season games but he is allowed to play in the final two preseason games for the Birds. Andy Reid is expected to announce today that Vick will play quarterback in the 4th quarter for the Eagles in their preseason game against the Jaguars on Thursday.

Vick's quarter of work certainly will be the most watched 4th quarter in preseason history as everyone wants to see how he does. Don't expect any trickery or Wildcat offensive looks; the Eagles aren't going to give away how they plan to use Vick in a meaningless preseason game. What you should expect is Vick to stay behind center and work on his quarterback fundamentals which will need to get much better if he is going to be the backup to Donovan McNabb.

With McNabb likely to play the entire first half and Vick to play the 4th quarter, it will be interesting to see who the Eagles use at quarterback in the 3rd quarter. There are indications that Kevin Kolb will be playing on Thursday so that could leave A.J. Feeley without any playing time. Of course, Feeley has already gotten the bulk of the work this preseason so the Eagles really don't need to see much more from him. Then again, the Birds will likely try to trade Feeley so they should showcase him for the rest of the teams.

The Michael Vick era is ready to begin on the field. While what we see from Vick on Thursday won't be his true role on the team, it will still be interesting to see if he can cut it as a backup quarterback. It's time to start finding out if he is worth all the fuss.