Michael Vick runs for TD but absorbs 4 sacks and throws interception as Jets top Eagles 38-27

Vick struggles after TD run, Jets top Eagles 38-27

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — Michael Vick took off, eluded a few tacklers and showed flashes of what once made him one of the NFL’s most exciting players.

“I think we got a chance to see that he’s got a little juice in those legs,” Philadelphia Eagles coach Andy Reid said. “He turned it on there a couple of times.”

Vick, who found out earlier Thursday that he’ll be eligible to play in Week 3, might need those first two weeks of the regular season to truly get back up to speed. In his first significant action in three years, the Eagles quarterback ran for a 2-yard touchdown, but was sacked four times, lost a fumble and was intercepted as the New York Jets beat the Eagles 38-27.

“I still think I’m a couple of weeks away,” Vick said. “I’ll take this time to get myself in shape, build my endurance, continue to strengthen my legs and to work my mind with the offense.”

Vick was released from federal custody July 20 after serving 18 months of a 23-month sentence for his role in operating a dogfighting ring. He recently signed with the Eagles, and met with commissioner Roger Goodell at the team’s hotel a few hours before the game. Goodell announced that Vick will be eligible to play in Philadelphia’s home game Sept. 27 against Kansas City.

“It’s still somewhat like a dream when I step out there on the field, coming where I came from two years ago and where I’ve been,” Vick said. “I just try to enjoy the moment. I can’t complain about anything.”

He finished 7 for 11 for 26 yards, and carried the ball seven times for 35 yards.

“It was good to get him in there,” Reid said. “I’m sure he’ll be a little sore tomorrow. That’s OK. He’ll have a couple of weeks to recover from it.”

Booed each time he ran onto the field in the first half, Vick lined up at quarterback, faked a handoff and ran up the middle and scored 25 seconds into the second quarter to give the Eagles a 14-7 lead. It was his first touchdown since the 2006 season.

“I didn’t even know what to do with myself,” he said. “I always told myself I was going to keep the ball, hand it to an offensive lineman, spike it. I got up and I just lost it. My mind went blank. I just ran off the field like nothing happened.”

Vick entered the game on the Eagles’ third play from scrimmage and ran 2 yards for a first down. He was in and out of the lineup in the opening half, and was intercepted on his first pass. His toss intended for Jeremy Maclin was slightly underthrown from 36 yards as Dwight Lowery picked it off.

He opened the second half as the quarterback, but his feet also got him in trouble, losing 22 yards when he tried to scramble on third down in the third quarter. He kept losing yardage before he was sacked by Jamaal Westerman at the Eagles 4. Vick also fumbled the ball, but recovered it.

“I think I played fairly well,” Vick said. “A lot of things I could’ve done better, but it was good to get out there and play some quarterback on a consistent basis and shake off the cobwebs a little bit.”

Meanwhile, Jets rookie Mark Sanchez looked sharp, completing all five of his passes, and capped his only series with a 21-yard touchdown pass to Jerricho Cotchery.

“I think that was exactly the sort of statement we wanted to make as an offense to ourselves and to the league,” Sanchez said. “We want to feel like a force to be reckoned with.”

Danny Woodhead, making a bid to make the team, ran for 158 yards — the NFL’s second-highest preseason total since 1992 — and two touchdowns.

“We see it everyday in practice, but we wanted to sit back, eat some popcorn and let him do his thing out there,” Cotchery said. “I know a lot of people were excited about the Vick comeback, but we were looking forward to the Woodhead show.”

After David Akers kicked a 36-yard field goal to make it a four-point game, Erik Ainge threw a 73-yard touchdown pass to David Clowney to seal it for the Jets with 4:51 remaining.