Reid: Vick to play Thursday

PHILADELPHIA, Aug. 25 (UPI) -- Michael Vick, who sat out a two-year NFL suspension for a dogfighting conviction, will play Thursday for Philadelphia in a home exhibition against Jacksonville.

Eagles Coach Andy Reid said Tuesday Vick "will have the opportunity to play Thursday" but didn't detail how the quarterback would be used.

Vick was suspended by NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell in August 2007 after the player, then a member of the Atlanta Falcons, pleaded guilty to charges related to a dogfighting operation on property he owned. Vick served 18 months of a 23-month sentence for the guilty plea.

Goodell conditionally reinstated Vick in July, allowing the quarterback to sign with an NFL team and making him eligible to play in the team's final two exhibitions. Goodell said Vick would receive full reinstatement by the sixth week of the NFL regular season.

Vick, a three-time Pro Bowl selection, hasn't played an NFL game since the end of the 2006 season.

"It's been two years, we'll see how it works out," Reid said. "We'll see what he can do.

"He wants to get in. He's kind of set this as a goal and so did we. I think he's excited to get out there."