Reid defends Vick, Maclin hurt again

How does that old commercial go: How many licks does it take to get to the Tootsie Roll center of a Tootsie Pop?

The answer, per the ad, is three, which is 16 fewer licks than Mike Vick took in Sunday’s 17-16 win over Cleveland. The quarterback was hit or under duress on 19 dropbacks, according to ESPN — which is tied for the most in the NFL since 2010.

One day after that debacle, coach Andy Reid was asked if Vick takes more hits in the pocket than his peers.

“Well, in the pocket, I wouldn’t say he gets hit more than the other quarterbacks,” Reid said. “Now, I’m not going around studying [the numbers]. I’m not sitting here with numbers for you on the other quarterbacks.”

Of course, Vick’s health wasn’t the issue. He just appeared out of sync overall. Maybe it was the lack of preseason snaps, or maybe there were too many breakdowns from his offensive line. Either way, Reid is standing by Vick.

“I don’t think it’s over-thinking,” Reid said. “There were so many good things that he did in the mix there. I mean, he accumulated a ton of yards and so there were some good things. We’ve all got to look at that and make sure that we get that right.”

The bottom line, just like last season, is that the Eagles need to eliminate the turnovers and penalties. The team racked up 456 total yards of offense and nearly lost in embarrassing fashion.

“That’s ridiculous there,” Reid said. “You have 12 penalties for 110 yards. That’s ridiculous and that’s not good football. We just have to make sure we take care of that.”

Injury report

Andy Reid listed five players on his injury report: Jason Avant (wrist), Jeremy Maclin (hip), Curtis Marsh (hamstring), Jaiquawn Jarrett (shoulder) and Riley Cooper (collarbone).

Obviously, the one everyone wants to know about is Maclin. The team will keep a day-to-day watch on its wide receiver as he continues to rehab. Reid said he wouldn’t make a roster move until later in the week. Cooper won’t be ready by Sunday.

“I’m just going to see here the next couple of days,” Reid said. “See how he feels as we go.”