We wrote about Michael Vick a couple weeks ago and now it’s clear that he’s very big in the news right now. There is still quite a bit of speculation about whether he’s in or out of football or which team might take him in when he returns. Now there is a small controversy brewing about a bankruptcy hearing that will be happening in court in Alexandria, Virginia. He wanted the law enforcement people to come get him from his jail in Kansas, where he’s in for dogfighting, and bring him to VA. But the judge just ruled that he had to pay his own way back. It seems like the judge didn’t buy his argument that Vick didn’t have enough money to come for the hearing. Read more here.

It was supposed to be a rebuilding year for both the Atlanta Falcons and the Chicago Bears. Then again, it was supposed to be another year where the Indianapolis Colts and New England Patriots dominated the play. It was supposed to be another year in which Chad Ochocinco dominated at wide receiver. A lot doesn’t seem to add up.

However it does add up, though, the Bears and Falcons are two teams that have surprised the league in both the quarterback and running back spots. The Chicago Bears’ fourth year-veteran quarterback, Kyle Orton, was remembered as being a game manager: Someone who simply had the job to make no mistakes. Instead, he led the league last week in the quarterback spot with 334 passing yards. Rookie running back Matt Forte has also filled his role quite nicely. Filling the relatively “small shoes” of Cedric Benson, Forte is the league leader in running yards by a rookie, and is also coincidentally the favorite passing target for Orton.

Flip to the Falcons side and the story is similar. Rookie quarterback Matt Ryan has accomplished much more than expected from him and running back Michael Turner leads the league in running with 543 yards. They too, like the Bears, find themselves with a 3-2 record and are emerging as a potential playoff team.

This weekend the two will meet in a sort of mirror match. Two teams with similar styles, a similar record, and even losses to the same two teams will now see who can out do the other. The game starts at 1 p.m. ET.

The Atlanta Falcons started their high energy and spirited veteran mini camp practice session on Monday under the watchful eyes of head coach Mike Smith. The first day of the camp itself provided the much needed energy booster for the Falcon boys as the abundant energy in Coach Smith got transferred to the players. The Falcon players were amazed with the amount of energy that the head coach possessed and his enthusiasm and passion for the game of football was clearly visible during the first day of the camp itself.

It is clearly evident that the coaching staff has decided to infuse more energy and power into the Falcon players as they had performed very badly during the 2007 season. Smith informed the media after the first day’s camp that he was very pleased that the coaching staffs were really able to instill some football tactics into the Falcon players. Smith said that the main focus of the mini camp is to develop positive body language in the players.

Joey Harrington was replaced by Byron Leftwich as the Falcons’ starting quarterback. The team’s coach Bobby Petrino said yesterday that he was planning to keep Byron Leftwich as his starter for the rest of the current season, as he hopes to spark an offense that has struggled without Michael Vick, who had been suspended.

Atlanta offense failed to score off 3 New York turnovers Monday night. New York won, 31-10, dropping the falcons to 1-5. Bobby Petrino indicated that Leftwich might have played against New York if he had not missed much practice time a week before with his sprained ankle.

The Tennessee Titans quarterback Young rested his strained right quadriceps by watching practice yesterday, leaving this work to the backup Collins. Jeff Fisher said Vince Young would be day to day and might not temporarily practice as Tennessee (3-2) prepare to visit Vince Young’s hometown team, the Texans (3-3).

The rookie Edwards is going to make his 3rd straight start Sunday when the Bills play host to the Ravens, leading to further questions about whether J. P. Losman is ever going to get his job back. Dick Jauron, the team’s coach, made the announcement yesterday, saying he would not commit to a full-time starter beyond this weekend.

The NFL reinstated Koren Robinson, the Green Bay wide receiver, yesterday. It was in fact the 1st day Koren was eligible to return from his 1-year suspension for violating the league’s substance-abuse policy. He had also petitioned for reinstatement to Commissioner Roger Goodell meeting with him earlier this week.