Eagles-Jaguars Preview

By leading the Philadelphia Eagles to victory in Week 2, Michael Vick has earned himself the starting job - although he had to wait an extra day to be sure.

Philadelphia travels to EverBank Field to take on the Jacksonville Jaguars on Sunday, looking for its first win in four all-time meetings.

Making his first start since 2006, Vick led the Eagles (1-1) to a 35-32 win at Detroit last Sunday, going 21 of 34 for 284 yards and two touchdowns while adding 37 rushing yards.

On Tuesday, coach Andy Reid announced that Vick would be the starter - one day after stating that he would go back to Kevin Kolb.

"Michael did an exceptional job and my job is to evaluate the players," Reid said. "It's my obligation to make the proper decision."

Vick has the fourth-highest quarterback rating in the league at 105.5 and ranks first at the position with 140 rushing yards. He leads the NFL with 7.8 yards per rushing attempt.

"When someone is playing at the level Michael Vick is playing, you have to give him an opportunity," Reid said. "This isn't about Kevin Kolb's play. You're talking about Michael Vick as one of the best quarterbacks in the NFL right now."

The Jaguars (1-1) won't be able to focus solely on stopping Vick, as they also need to be concerned about running back LeSean McCoy, who is coming off a career-best performance.

McCoy rushed for 120 yards and three touchdowns on 16 carries against the Lions, and has matched his TD total from last season with four. Behind him and Vick, the Eagles are second in the league with 155.5 rushing yards per contest after they averaged 102.3 last season.

"He's going out and he's running more physical," Reid said of McCoy. "He's more deliberate and accurate with his cuts, seeing the daylight and getting north and south, which you have to do in this league."

Kolb was unavailable last Sunday due to a concussion suffered in a season-opening 27-20 loss to Green Bay. Reid says Kolb is healthy and the injury has nothing to do with him being relegated to a backup role.

Starting linebacker Stewart Bradley, who also suffered a concussion in Week 1, has been declared symptom free and will return to action as Philadelphia looks to slow down Jacksonville running back Maurice Jones-Drew. The Eagles have had a hard time stopping the run, allowing 123.5 yards a game on the ground.

Jones-Drew has been held in check so far in 2010, accumulating 129 rushing yards and no touchdowns in the first two games.

''Teams have been doing a lot of good things against us by stacking the box,'' he said. ''We've been close a couple of times, but we're just going to keep working at it.''

One week after posting the best rating of his career at 138.2, David Garrard struggled badly against San Diego, throwing a career high-tying four interceptions. He was replaced by Luke McCown in the fourth quarter of a 38-13 loss.

McCown was lost for the season with a torn ACL, and Garrard will be back under center as he looks to rebound.

Coach Jack Del Rio knows his team likely needs a bounce-back performance from its quarterback if it's going to beat the Eagles.

"There's no way he can say enough things or I can sit here and convince you of it having a chance to go that way by having some eloquent speech prepared," he said. "It's going to have to be proven on the field. We're going to have to see it.

"Believe me, I would love for that to be the case, for him to take a major step forward for himself and for our football team 'cause we need that."

The Jaguars signed Todd Bouman on Tuesday to back up Garrard. The 38-year-old Bouman has played in 42 games with six starts for Minnesota and New Orleans. He spent four weeks on Jacksonville's roster in 2007 and spent time with the club during training camp in 2008 and 2009.

Garrard helped lead Jacksonville to a 13-6 win in its only visit to Lincoln Financial Field in 2006, going 10 of 17 for 87 yards. The clubs also met in 2002 and 1997, both times at Jacksonville.