Eagles' Reid praises former Bears Frazier

Former Bears cornerback Leslie Frazier was named Minnesota Vikings interim coach after Brad Childress was fired Monday, and Eagles coach Andy Reid said Frazier brings some impressive qualifications to the job.

Reid gave Frazier his first NFL coaching job in 1999, when he hired him as his defensive backs coach in Philadelphia. He worked there for four years.

Frazier led the 1985 Bears with 6 interceptions but suffered a knee injury in Super Bowl XX that ended his career. In 1988 he became the first head football coach at Deerfield's Trinity University, where he spent nine years.

“He was a great player, which you guys know,” Reid said earlier in the week on a conference call. “But he played under good head coaches, in particular Mike Ditka.

“He saw it done the right way. He saw Buddy Ryan, and he had that experience working with him, so he's been around good people.

“And then he was on Tony Dungy's staff (as Colts defensive backs coach in 2005 and '06). Tony is one of the great coaches to coach in this league, and he has that experience.

“He knows what it takes to win a championship, and he relates well with people. You're not going to find a better person or a harder worker.

“I know you guys know he is a phenomenal person, but he is also a tremendous worker.”

Renewing acquaintances:

When Julius Peppers was with the Carolina Panthers he faced the Atlanta Falcons and Michael Vick twice a year from 2002-06, and in those 10 games he had 5 of his 86 career sacks.

After getting just 2 sacks in the Bears' first 10 games, Peppers had 3 last week against the Miami Dolphins.

“I know what Julius can do,” Vick said. “He always had competitive games, always (was) a guy I tried to avoid and stay away from, so it doesn't surprise me that he's turning his game around right now. It was just a matter of time.”

Bad memories:

Bears offensive coordinator Mike Martz never had to game plan for Michael Vick, but he remembers facing Vick's Falcons teams when he was the St. Louis Rams' head coach and offensive coordinator.

“One play I'll never forget,” Martz said. “We had him third-and-33, and he converted it when he scrambled. We were a pretty decent defense, and I was just stunned.

“He can do that to anybody, the best of players. He's just a very unusual athlete, and he's maturing. If we didn't have to play him, he'd be fun to watch.”

On the run:

In the Bears' last three games, all victories, quarterback Jay Cutler has rushed for 91 yards and averaged 6.5 yards per carry. Subtract his five kneel-downs in those games at the end of the first half or of the game, and Cutler has 98 yards on 9 runs for a 10.9-yard average.

But Cutler will be the first to say his mobility isn't in the same category as Michael Vick, whose 375 rushing yards (7.9-yard average) are nearly twice as many as the next quarterback, Green Bay's Aaron Rodgers, who has 198 yards.

“He's on a different level,” Cutler said of Vick.

Injury update:

The Bears had no one on Friday's injury report, while the Eagles listed three defensive starters as questionable: cornerback Asante Samuel (knee), end Juqua Parker (hip) and tackle Antonio Dixon (abdomen).