Although he is still listed as "questionable" on the team's official injury report, Atlanta Falcons quarterback Michael Vick seemed to answer most of the doubts about his physical condition on Wednesday, and moved one step closer to returning to his starting job.

Vick and backup Doug Johnson, who led the Falcons to a 17-10 victory over the New York Giants last Sunday, split the snaps with the first-unit offense as Atlanta began preparations for its upcoming game against Carolina. Vick apparently operated without pain, and said he had no real problems with the injury to his non-throwing shoulder that relegated him to "emergency" status for the New York game.

"I expect to start this week and I think (the shoulder) will get better as the week goes on," Vick said. "Last week it got better as the week progressed and hopefully I'll be ready to go. I'm feeling good. I feel like I can throw the football. Last week I could not throw to my right."

Vick assessed his shoulder at "about 95 percent" and insisted that it felt markedly better than a week ago. He injured the shoulder in an Oct. 6 loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, a game in which he was constantly harassed.

Coach Dan Reeves stopped short of pronouncing Vick ready to resume his role as the starter but the indications are that, unless he suffers a setback, the second-year veteran will be the starter against the Panthers.

"It's certainly a heck of an improvement over last week,'' Reeves said. "The real key is how much soreness he has from today. He took a lot of reps.

"It will be interesting to see how Mike does the next two or three days,'' Reeves said. "I'm encouraged. I didn't think he would be this good.''

The top overall choice in the 2001 draft, Vick agreed it was prudent to sit out last week rather than risk injury that would further sideline him. While he lauded the work of Johnson, who played well in only his third NFL start, it is obvious Vick is anxious to return from his one-week hiatus.

Vick said there are still questions about how the shoulder will hold up if it is hit again, or he falls on it, but debunked all notions that he is apprehensive about reinjuring it.

Len Pasquarelli is a senior writer for ESPN.com. Information from the Associated Press was used in this report.