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Philadelphia Frets as Eagles Assess Vick’s Concussion

PHILADELPHIA — Fans in this city awoke Monday with a sense of unease. Their beloved Eagles lost the night before. There were second-guesses about moves, or the lack thereof, by Coach Andy Reid. And it became worse: Michael Vick had sustained a concussion.

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The sports-talk radio host Ike Reese, a former Eagles linebacker, vowed to devote an hour of his show to discuss the quarterback situation. The Philadelphia Inquirer displayed a large photograph of Vick on the turf underneath the headline “Knockout Punch.” At cheese-steak joints around the city, the discussion was Vick, Vick and Vick.

The time frame for Vick’s return remains unknown. The Eagles still have to put him through a series of tests, in line with concussion guidelines mandated by the N.F.L., to determine whether he will be ready to play when they host the Giants on Sunday.

Rick Burkholder, the club’s head athletic trainer, said that Vick was “absolutely fine last night,” but Burkholder had not evaluated Vick by the time he spoke to reporters Monday morning.

Vick was not made available to speak with reporters.

Before Vick can return, the league requires that he be cleared by an independent neurological consultant, pass an Impact concussion test (a computerized evaluation of memory, brain processing and visual motor skills) and have a magnetic resonance imaging test.

“That’s foolish medically to put a time frame out there,” Burkholder said of Vick’s return. “Everybody wants to know whether Mike’s going to play, whether Mike’s going to practice. We’re going to go through our protocol. When Mike’s ready to practice, I’m going to turn him over to Coach, and he’s going to make a decision if he’s ready to play.”

Vick was injured late in the third quarter of the team’s 35-31 loss to the Falcons in Atlanta when he was sacked by safety William Moore. As Vick twisted to the turf, he crashed face-mask-first into Eagles right tackle Todd Herremans, snapping his neck backward.

Vick stayed down on the field for several moments, then walked off while leaning on a trainer. Vick, who bit his tongue on the play, spit out blood while he headed toward the sideline.

If Vick cannot play on Sunday, the Eagles will turn to Mike Kafka or Vince Young, who has been sidelined with a hamstring injury. Kafka replaced Vick in Atlanta and completed 7 of 9 passes for 72 yards in his N.F.L. debut.

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