Philadelphia Eagles Notes, Quotes

--In a move that had been expected for a while now, head coach Andy Reid signed a three-year contract extension with the team Wednesday. He still had one year remaining on his current deal. Reid has been with the team since 1999. "It's hard to come up with the words to describe his body of work over the last decade," owner Jeff Lurie said after announcing the extension. "A great leader. Somebody that everybody in this building has tremendous respect for. In every way, the epitome of what you're looking for in a leader." Reid has taken the Eagles to five NFC Championship Games in the last eight years. But they've made just one Super Bowl appearance (in 2004) and lost that one. Asked about giving another extension to a coach who hasn't won a Super Bowl in 10 years on the job, Lurie said, "The fans are very smart here and they know how rare it is to be able to get to the playoffs almost every year and get to all of those championship games. You can't win the Super bowl unless you're in line to get to the playoffs and be in that championship game. That's the only path there is."

--Running back Brian Westbrook, who has missed five of the last six games with two concussions, returned to the practice field Wednesday and says he hopes to play again this season. "Yeah, that's my hope -- to get back out there and play," he said. "I think all of the signs right now are aiming towards being able to play before the end of the season." Westbrook said he's concerned about the effect multiple concussions will have on him down the line. "I'm more concerned about how things will happen for me in the future," he said. "How having concussions now will affect me 20, 30 years from now. I don't think I'm scared to play the game of football. But I'm concerned that things that are happening now inside the game of football -- concussions, things like that, can really affect my life as far down the road as (when I'm) 30, 40, 50 years old. That really concerns me."

--Michael Vick's Atlanta homecoming couldn't have turned out any better. He got to lead the team out onto the field before the game, was one of the team's captains and then passed for one touchdown and ran for another in the Eagles' 34-7 rout of the Falcons. Vick used to own the city of Atlanta, and while his fall from grace cost him nearly two years in prison and tens of millions of dollars, it didn't cost him many fans. The "We love Vick" chants echoed throughout the game. "I'll never forget this day," Vick said. "I'll never forget coming back to the city of Atlanta. I'll never forget shedding a tear on the bus ride over here this morning. You don't have a lot of chances to experience things like this in your life. This is one moment that I'm going to (savor) forever." Cornerback Sheldon Brown on Vick: "Man, let me tell you something. I've got so much respect for him and what he's going through. He handles it, he's probably one of the most professional people I've been around. To go through such an adverse situation and show you how to respond, how to handle it, hit it head-on, face-to-face, and move on from it. I've got a lot of respect for him. ... His leadership, coming in, working out every morning, putting in the hours, staying after and watching the film. We see that. We notice how professional he is. That helps the overall picture as well."

BY THE NUMBERS: 8 -- Number of touchdown drives of two or less plays the Eagles have had this season.

QUOTE TO NOTE: "I'm just a piece of the puzzle here. By my waist size, I'm a big piece. But in reality, I'm just a piece of the puzzle." -- Andy Reid at the news conference to announce his new three-year contract extension.