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Duce to be turned loose Cautious Eagles likely to pursue veteran backup RB
The missing piece to the Philadelphia Eagles' Super Bowl puzzle steps on a football field this week for the first time since last October. Duce Staley looks fine. He says he feels fine. The Eagles were optimistic enough about Staley's recovery from a torn left foot ligament that they didn't draft a back to replace him in April. "He's a genetic freak," head coach Andy Reid tells me. "He's walking and running with no limp, and this was a serious, serious injury." Staley tore the ligament that basically controls the movement of three toes and had to have it pinned back in place. The Eagles say no football player has ever had this injury and returned to play, which makes the odds for Staley still a bit daunting. His rehab has been both grueling and quirky; for instance, trainer Rick Burkholder has had Staley pick up children's jacks with his toes to improve flexibility. Still, the man who rushed for 2,300 yards over 1998 and '99 says he's ready to resume his place as one of the NFL's premier backs. Just to be sure they're covered at the position, though, look for the Eagles to pursue a list of free-agent backs -- topped by former Redskin Skip Hicks -- in the coming weeks. "A running back will have a unique opportunity here he might not have elsewhere because we can't be sure about Duce until we get to training camp," says Reid. Time to pack a lunch and get to workWith the ink on his new contract barely dry, Michael Vick reports to the Falcons this week, ready to cram for two months before training camp starts. His personal tutor will be Atlanta aide Jack Burns, who says he wants to see if Vick is a gym rat. By that, Burns means he wants to see if Vick will get to the facility early and stay late, and not be looking to make every $5,000 mall appearance. "This is my job now," Vick told me, "and I'm going to do whatever they tell me to do to get ready to play." The key for Vick off the field, clearly, is to master one of the tougher playbooks in the NFL, one which Falcons head coach Dan Reeves has compiled over the years. The keys on the field? There are two. One, can Vick modify his style of play to look over his field of receivers so he doesn't run at the first sign of a collapsed pocket? And two, can he improve his accuracy? Burns tells me he'll make Vick work on the short and intermediate crossing routes that the quarterback consistently missed on at Virginia Tech. Reports turned Browns away from pursuing DillonSo why is Corey Dillon a Cincinnati Bengal today and not a Cleveland Brown? Two words: Butch Davis. The Browns would have been in the hunt for Dillon, the restricted free agent who re-signed with the Bengals last Friday, if Davis had not gotten the Cleveland coaching job. The Browns' hierarchy loved Dillon's big-play capability, but when Davis got on board and started doing his homework, he heard nothing but bad things about Dillon. His spies -- former University of Miami players now in the NFL -- told him Dillon was unreliable and a me-first guy. In truth, the Browns were never contenders for Dillon once Davis got hired. And it says here Dillon will be the same kind of big-dollar mistake for the Bengals that Carl Pickens was two years ago -- a guy who signed with Cincinnati only because he couldn't get his money anywhere else. Sports Illustrated senior writer Peter King covers the NFL beat for the magazine and is a regular contributor to CNNSI.com.
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