Vick reportedly set to start training upon prison release

Vick must complete the final two months of his 23-month dogfighting sentence in home confinement in Hampton, Va.

Whether the embattled Falcons quarterback will be allowed back in the NFL is up to commissioner Roger Goodell, who suspended him indefinitely. Goodell has said Vick must show genuine remorse.

At least one training expert believes rust won't be a big factor for Vick, who will turn 29 in June.

"He's been doing a lot of running, a lot of cardio work in prison, so he didn't really lose his conditioning," said Chip Smith, founder of Competitive Edge Sports in Duluth.

Smith said he got his information from his training client Jimmy Williams, Vick's former Falcons teammate. Now a defensive back with San Francisco, Williams speaks to Vick about once a week, according to Smith.

"I don't think he threw at all," Smith continued. "The only thing he was able to do was run sprints, do some distance work when he had recreation time. That was the impression I got from Jimmy."

Vick "is such a great talent that I suspect he'll be back pretty quickly," added Smith, who also has trained Vick's younger brother Marcus among several former Virginia Tech players. "I don't think he's been gone so long that it really diminished his skill level."

Quarterbacks guru Roger Theder said that if Vick gets reinstated, his biggest football hurdle will be mechanics, just as it was before he got suspended.

"He's erratic throwing the ball because of his mechanics," said Theder, a former University of California head coach and San Diego Chargers assistant. "It's not his feet or his arms, it's his release ... But now that they've got all these spread offenses, the Wildcat they're running, a guy like Michael could be tremendous."

The Falcons have said they are trying to trade Vick's rights, but interest has been minimal. Any team that acquires him likely would face protests from animal lovers.

Vick's initial plans, according to The Virginian Pilot, are to live with his fiancee and their children and to work a construction job. A federal community corrections officer will monitor Vick through an electronic tracking device.

The newspaper reported that Habitat for Humanity rejected Vick's offer to do volunteer work.

"We evaluated the request but have determined that we will not have a suitable work site available at the time of his release from prison," Janet V. Green, executive director of a Habitat office, told the newspaper.

Following Vick's two months of confinement, he must complete three years of probation. The newspaper said Vick's first meeting with his probation officer will be Friday.