The Eagles thumped the Panthers 38-10 on Sunday in Charlotte, but their mood went from jubilation to concern after quarterback Donovan McNabb suffered a rib injury after rushing for a touchdown in the third quarter.

McNabb was able to walk off the field under his own power, but he was clearly in discomfort when he returned to the sidelines in the fourth quarter. The Eagles haven’t announced how long McNabb will be out for, or if he’ll be out at all.

What’s interesting about this injury is that Philadelphia’s backup quarterback is Michael Vick, who won’t be available until Week 4 until after he’s done serving a three-game suspension. Kevin Kolb will start next week if McNabb can’t play.

Even though Vick brings an added dimension to the field as a runner, him starting would be a worst-case scenario for the Eagles. Philadelphia is a serious Super Bowl contender and need McNabb (who is the far superior passer to Vick) under center. Outside of a couple of preseason games, Vick hasn’t played in two years and would need time to shake off the rust following his suspension.

But maybe this is all a moot point. McNabb might not miss any time and even if he does, Kolb is going to get the chance to start while Vick is out. If he plays well, it’s highly doubtful that Andy Reid would turn the keys of the offense over to Vick.

As for the Eagles’ opponents on Sunday, this was a worst-case scenario for a Panthers team that was hoping to put their disastrous performance against the Cardinals in last year’s divisional round of the playoffs behind them.

Quarterback Jake Delhomme had another awful performance while completing just 7 of 17 pass attempts for 73 yards and four interceptions. Why Carolina refuses to develop a young signal caller behind Delhomme is beyond me. If his performance on Sunday was any indication of how he’ll do the rest of the year, then the Panthers are in serious trouble.

Update: ESPN.com is reporting that McNabb fractured a rib, but Reid stated that the quarterback might still play next week.

NFL commissioner Roger Goodell has announced that Michael Vick will be eligible to play in the Eagles’ third regular season game in 2009.

From ESPN.com:

Goodell and Vick had met Thursday morning for 45 to 50 minutes in New Jersey to discuss when Vick might be reinstated. After that, Goodell said, he consulted with Vick’s mentor, former Indianapolis Colts coach Tony Dungy, for another 45 minutes.

“Hopefully we can have a success story here, which would be good for society in general,” Goodell said. “He’s realistic about the challenges ahead. And anxious to play football.”

During their meeting Thursday, the topic of Vick’s past experiences and why he got involved in dogfighting came up. One of Vick’s representatives was explaining it, when Vick stepped in and took responsibility. “He was genuinely remorseful,” Goodell said.

Goodell said he did discuss with Vick the report that he was seen drinking an alcoholic beverage in a restaurant at the hotel where he was staying. Goodell said it was not a violation of his probation.

Just because he’ll be allowed to play in Week 3 doesn’t mean that Goodell won’t watch Vick like a hawk. He’ll be on an extremely short leash and he better be on his absolute best behavior.

It’ll be interesting to see how Vick does tonight in the Eagles’ final preseason game. He’s supposed to see extended snaps while Donovan McNabb sits in preparation for the regular season opener.

According to a report by ESPN.com, the NFL has suspended Browns receiver Donte’ Stallworth for the entire 2009 season without pay.

In a letter to Stallworth made public Thursday, commissioner Roger Goodell said, “I believe that further consequences are necessary” in addition to the punishment handed down by the legal system.

“There is no question that your actions had tragic consequences to an innocent man and his family, and that you have violated both the Substances of Abuse and Personal Conduct Policies,” Goodell said. “In that respect, you are clearly guilty of conduct detrimental to the integrity of and public confidence in the NFL.”

“Your conduct endangered yourself and others, leading to the death of an innocent man. The NFL and NFL players must live with the stain that you have placed on their reputations,” Goodell said.

People are immediately going to compare this suspension to the one that Michael Vick will receive (four to six games) and think that Goodell was harder on Stallworth than he will be on Vick. But don’t forget that Vick already served 23 months in jail, so that plays into the length of his suspension.

Then again, even though the 30 days Stallworth got for killing a pedestrian was light, he has showed remorse from the moment of the accident and has accepted his punishment. Vick, on the other hand, lied from the get-go about his involvement with dog fighting and, at least in some people’s eyes, has yet to show much remorse. He lied to Goodell, lied to Falcons owner Arthur Blank, and lied to the public. So why should he only get a four or six game suspension while Stallworth is suspended 16 games? It’s an interesting debate.

Either way, Stallworth’s career is definitely in jeopardy. It’s highly doubtful that he’ll ever play for the Browns again and given his age, (lack of) production and durability concerns, other teams may pass on him as well.

Sam Farmer of the LA Times writes on his Twitter page that the possibility of free agent quarterback Michael Vick signing with the Jaguars “is looking more and more real.”

While I question how a writer from the LA Times would know that Vick could sign with the Jaguars (it wouldn’t be too far-fetched to think Farmer has a contact in Jax, I guess) Jacksonville does make sense as a possible landing spot for the criminal. (Too harsh? No? Okay.)

There were rumors around draft time that the Jags would take a quarterback with the No. 8 pick in the first round, but instead decided to upgrade their offensive line when Eugene Monroe fell to them at that spot. Some pundits believe that David Garrard’s time is running out in Jacksonville, although he was hardly to blame for the injuries that ransacked the offensive line last year and completely hindered the Jags’ offensive success.

Still, a little competition never hurt anybody and Garrard’s backup is 37-year-old journeyman Todd Bouman, so maybe Vick is a great fit for the Jags. (Although it should be noted that Jacksonville’s beat writer Michael C. Wright reports that Vick’s name hasn’t come up once during meetings between him and team brass.)

In other Vick news, the Redskins, Seahawks, Bengals, Bills, 49ers and Rams have already stated that they’re not interested in the free agent QB.

According to NFL executive VP of football operations Ray Anderson, Michael Vick could play as early as Week 1 of the NFL season this year.

Ray Anderson, the league’s executive vice president of football operations, tells NFL.com senior columnist Thomas George that Michael Vick could find himself suiting up in Week 1 of the regular season “if all goes well” and that commissioner Roger Goodell’s decision to conditionally reinstate the quarterback shouldn’t be viewed as a six-game suspension.

“Personally, I am glad that Michael Vick has a chance to have a real say in his opportunity,” Anderson said. “As a former agent who represented players and as a former club executive with the Falcons who knew Vick personally, I think this decision smacks of real fairness in all corners.

“This is a step-by-step process that goes up to Week 6; it is not a six-game suspension by any means. If all goes well, he could be playing anytime from Week 1 forward. Roger listened to ownership, NFL employees, friends, relatives, players, counselors, people from animal rights groups. In his typical fashion, he sought input and listened to all before acting.”

What exactly does, “if all goes well” entail? What, if Vick sells enough Girl Scout cookies by the end of August he can play in Week 1? Anderson is being incredibly vague here, which I guess means we’ll just have to wait and see how the league handles this situation.

Personally, I’m calling shenanigans if Vick is able to play in Week 1. I understand he served 23 months in jail, but that really has nothing to do with the league. To me, he still hasn’t served his league suspension yet, just as Pacman Jones, Chris Henry and all the other malcontents have done in years past. Whether that’s four, six or 16 games I don’t care, but Vick has to be suspended.

According to a report by ESPN.com, Michael Vick was conditionally reinstated by NFL commissioner Roger Goodell on Monday and could play in regular season games as early as October.

Vick can immediately participate in preseason practices, workouts and meetings and can play in the final two preseason games — if he can find a team that will sign him. A number of teams have already said they would not.

“Needless to say, your margin for error is extremely limited,” Goodell said in a letter to Vick. “I urge you to take full advantage of the resources available to support you and to dedicate yourself to rebuilding your life and your career. If you do this, the NFL will support you.”

“I would like to express my sincere gratitude and appreciation to commissioner Goodell for allowing me to be readmitted to the National Football League,” Vick said through agent Joel Segal. “I fully understand that playing football in the NFL is a privilege, not a right, and I am truly thankful for the opportunity I have been given.

“As you can imagine, the last two years have given me time to re-evaluate my life, mature as an individual and fully understand the terrible mistakes I have made in the past and what type of life I must lead moving forward.

“Again, I want to thank the commissioner for the chance to return to the game I love and the opportunity to become an example of positive change.”

If Vick so much as jay walks across an empty street, he’s probably going to be suspended indefinitely, so he better take what Goodell says to heart.

Since Michael Vick got out of jail (and out of house arrest), there’s been a lot up in the air about whether or not he’d have a further punishment handed down from the NFL. While a decision concerning a four game suspension has yet to be made, some of his fellow players have made their opinions on the matter known already. John Wawrow from the Associated Press (and posted on Yahoo! Sports) reported what Terrell Owens had to say:

“Why shouldn’t he? I mean, there’s a lot more guys around the league that have done far more worst things than that and gotten second chances,” Owens said.

Owens said he would welcome Vick as a teammate.

“Michael Vick is a guy that really hasn’t any character issues besides what he got a prison sentence for, so why not?” he said.

Now I’m not about to enter into a diatribe about character issues in the NFL. Owens is right when he says there are people who have done worse in the NFL. Michael Vick was arrested and sentenced for his crime. It seems to me like in a criminal case it should be the legal system to mete out judgment rather than a private organization. However, it’s still the NFL’s decision to do what they want to a member of their company.

Michael Vick’s been hated since his arrest so vitriolically not because he’s a criminal (we’re pretty used to that) but because his crime was something we find particularly immoral. People have a soft spot for dogs, and the pictures that came out of the dogs in Vick’s “care” did nothing to help his image.

Here’s the rub though. Are Michael Vick’s crimes forgiven by the NFL if they don’t punish him further? Does inaction on their part translate to condolence as well? OK, but then what if they do punish him. Does a suspension after his rehabilitation in prison and subsequent probation, community service, etc. do anything to try and get him back to a decent way of living? Or is it just pushing him back into a life of crime? Does anyone even care about whether or not Vick’s a “good” guy now? I feel like I’d need to grow a bushier beard before I was ready to answer that.

As bad as his crime was, and I’m a dog lover too, I want to believe that he has paid his debt to society now. You ever notice how much worse it feels when a dog dies in a movie? I still think Old Yeller and Where the Red Fern Grows are sadder than Million Dollar Baby. As such, perhaps we are over-reacting (please no letter bombs) to Vick’s crime a little. Anyway, Michael Vick is not banned from football, so obviously his crime wasn’t against the sport (he’s not as bad as Pete Rose then) and as such he’ll come back to the sport sooner or later. I don’t see any reason why it shouldn’t be sooner.