Donovan Mcnabb News

"Following tradition, Eagles coach Andy Reid withheld quarterback Donovan McNabb from this afternoon's practice.

In the past Reid has given his quarterback the second session off on the day before veterans are scheduled to arrive. The rest of the team is expected to check into their Lehigh University dorms by 5 p.m. tomorrow. Kevin Kolb and A.J. Feeley will split snaps this afternoon as rookie/selected veteran camp continues."

"A day after Eagles coach Andy Reid and quarterback A.J. Feeley assured reporters that Brian Westbrook wouldn't boycott training camp, quarterback Donovan McNabb weighed in with a similar sentiment.

"Westbrook will be here," McNabb said Tuesday. Westbrook, the team's All-Pro running back, and the Eagles have been trying to rework the five-year, $25 million deal Westbrook signed in 2005. One newspaper report last week quoted Westbrook as saying he hadn't made up his mind about reporting to Lehigh University by 5 p.m. Thursday, when veterans are due. After the team's first practice, McNabb said he hadn't spoken to Westbrook, which means his statement was based more on opinion than ..."

"Donovan McNabb was scram bling as well as he had in years. Only it wasn't on the field, avoiding would-be pass rushers. It was in his first interview of training camp in the media tent a few yards beyond the end zone at Lehigh University. McNabb, who tries sometimes too hard to say all the right things and please everyone, came across contradictory and at times almost delusional. In one of his first answers to a question about last season, McNabb was impressive. "Any time you dwell on the past," he said, "your future isn't very bright." Then, in the span of the next few minutes he mentioned not only last year's 8-8 season, but the 2004 Super Bowl season, the 2005 disastrous ..."

"One down, 37 to go. The Eagles wrapped up the first practice session of their 2008 training camp at Lehigh University on Tuesday morning. The workout was followed by quarterback Donovan McNabb's first press conference. It's the 10th camp for both McNabb and head coach Andy Reid, but the quarterback wasn't in a contemplative mood. "Any time you start reflecting on the past, it means your future is not that bright," he said. "I'm looking forward to a great year.""

"Donovan McNabb will practice for the first time since June 9 this morning. The Eagles' starting quarterback was shut down in the middle of Organized Team Activities with shoulder tendonitis, but head coach Andy Reid said McNabb is ready to go as training camp gets under way at Lehigh University. McNabb is one of 25 players -- including rookies and selected veterans -- scheduled to take part in the camp's first practice session, set to start at 8:45 a.m."

"For the first time since Andy Reid joined the Eagles, there is evidence he no longer has the final say in all football decisions. Club president Joe Banner, insiders agree, has maneuvered into an unprecedented position of power within the Eagles. The movement began a year ago while Reid took a leave of absence to deal with the arrests and legal issues of his oldest sons. The Eagles aren't the first NFL franchise transitioning to an organizational structure where business types with salary-cap savvy are influencing more and more of the basic football decisions. The shift of power adds to the drama that will start playing out today when the Eagles report to training camp at Lehigh ..."

"Donovan McNabb knows how hard it is to make it back to the Super Bowl the season after playing in one. And he knows just how much more difficult that can be while dealing with super agent Drew Rosenhaus and one of his unhappy clients. If anyone knows the kind of potential drama the Giants face this summer with disgruntled Rosenhaus players Jeremy Shockey and Plaxico Burress, it's McNabb. "It is something that won't die down depending on how everyone handles it," McNabb said. "I don't know if it will tear them apart. They have enough guys in the locker room that they won't have to worry about it. But when people start taking sides, that is when it becomes a problem. That was ..."

"Donovan McNabb knows that some Eagles fans have questions about the quarterback's current ailment, his injury history, and his ability to lead the team to a Super Bowl title, which he and those fans want very badly. "I do think it gets blown way out of proportion. With the injury, if you don't say anything, then people think it's bigger than what it is and if you do say something, some people still think you're hiding something. It's a no-win situation and I've been part of them for a long time. I've heard people say, 'Donovan is fat,' I'm out of shape and I'm too big. I just don't get caught up in it.""

"The shoulder discomfort that Donovan McNabb has been experiencing now has a name. It's tendinitis. And even though coach Andy Reid said last month that it wasn't a problem, it will keep the Eagles' starting quarterback from practicing for the remainder of their camp, which concludes tomorrow."

""Donovan has slight tendinitis in his shoulder, very similar to what he had in 2004," Reid told reporters. "We're going to back off him, just like we did in 2004, and he should be ready for training camp. There's no surgery, there should be no repercussions from it. He'll just get treatment for about 2 weeks here, and then he'll be ready to go.""

"Eagles quarterback Donovan McNabb will not practice any more this week because of tendinitis in his shoulder. "It's very similar to what he had in 2004," Eagles coach Andy Reid said after today's workout. "We're going to back off just like in '04 and he should be ready for training camp. There is no surgery and should be no repercussions. He'll get treatment for about two weeks and he should be ready to go." McNabb's tendinitis in 2004 did not prevent him from leading the Eagles to the Super Bowl, but he's been plagued with injuries since then."

"Eagles quarterback Donovan McNabb had to be held out of the most significant portion of practice Monday due to a sore throwing shoulder sources linked to lifting weights. McNabb threw a couple of passes during the “team” phase of organized team activities — and not very well — before shutting it down. Though the Eagles insist the soreness isn’t a big problem, the pain has persisted from the first minicamp, when McNabb was sidelined for the final practice and most of the preceding workout. Teammates remarked that McNabb was in pain the first two practices of last week."

"The strange, little Donovan McNabb sore-shoulder saga seemed to be over when he threw extensively and well late last week, after Eagles offensive coordinator Marty Mornhinweg dismissed talk of a problem and McNabb took batting practice with the Phillies. But McNabb's reps were limited yesterday, as another "organized team activity" took place on the sun-blasted NovaCare fields. The quarterback, enticed into talking to reporters about Michael Strahan's retirement and McNabb's trip to Boston for Game 2 of the NBA Finals with team chairman Jeffrey Lurie, Brian Dawkins and Brian Westbrook, wasn't eager to discuss his shoulder."

"It has been said that we either love you or hate you in this town, but as Donovan McNabb knows all too well, it's not always a case of either/or. Often we do both, sometimes within hours. We hated him as a draft pick, loved him as the young quarterback of an up-and-coming team, grew tired of his failures in big spots and his failure to emote sufficiently over those moments. Some of you wanted him replaced by Kevin Kolb last fall. Many expected him to be traded in the offseason. But there he was yesterday, repeating that sentence that irks some and offers hope to others: "I don't expect to be going anywhere any time soon," McNabb said after an optional practice session at the ..."

"Andy Reid, during his interview with Comcast last week, made an interesting comment when he said in his biased opinion, "when he's healthy Donovan McNabb is the best quarterback in the league." This could be dissected all kinds of ways, but let's start with when he was at his healthiest and his best, McNabb was never more than the third-best quarterback in the league behind Tom Brady and Peyton Manning. Health has become McNabb's biggest enemy, even bigger than Ronde Barber. He has not played a complete season since the Super Bowl year of 2004, and has not won a playoff game in that time, either. Broken leg, torn ACL, bad thumb, sports hernia, sprained ankle, McNabb could be the ..."

"DONOVAN McNABB could have responded the way former Green Bay Packers quarterback Brett Favre did when he blasted management for not pursuing Pro Bowl receiver Randy Moss to help him in his swan-song campaign. McNabb isn't Favre and Philadelphia isn't Green Bay. After nearly a decade as the lightning rod of Philly's most popular team, McNabb is smart enough to know how publicly lamenting the Eagles' "oh, well" approach to upgrading the offense would play out. Few would understand his point, even fewer would want to hear it, and virtually none would sympathize with him."

"The gesture was vague, but it might have revealed more about Donovan McNabb's opinion of the Eagles' offseason than anything the quarterback actually said. The question: Did the Eagles try hard enough to better the offense? Or, more specifically, did they do their best to pair their franchise quarterback with some playmakers? "I think they did a great job," McNabb said. His sincerity, though, wasn't completely believable. And he smirked. Was the look because of the loaded question? Or was it his ambiguous answer? Only McNabb knows."

"What does Donovan think? It is not the only question that matters, but it is among them. It has to be. Donovan McNabb is your quarterback, and you cannot win a Super Bowl this year without him being good, and if you aren't trying to win a Super Bowl this year, then he shouldn't be your quarterback anymore. So you have to care about his reaction, at least a little."

"In an off-season that started with Donovan McNabb's call for more playmakers, the Eagles quarterback still has not seen an influx of offensive weapons. The team's big acquisitions have been on the defense, headlined by cornerback Asante Samuel and defensive end Chris Clemons. Eagles fans keep waiting for answers on offense. McNabb is preaching patience."

"Actions almost always speak louder than words for Donovan McNabb. For those who wondered if the Eagles’ all-too often fragile quarterback might approach the biggest season of what soon will be a 10-year NFL career with even a hint of trepidation, just the opposite is happening. McNabb is so serious about getting himself and his body up to Fitness Magazine-cover standards he’s added another trainer to an already impressive stable that annually whips him into shape."

"As political theater, this will be a fascinating performance to watch in the coming months. Because McNabb made it clear that he believed the Eagles needed playmakers in all three phases of the game - wink, wink. So far, the Eagles have not addressed his phase, other than to bring back tight end L.J. Smith and declare him healthy."

"Since Reid arrived in 1999 and made McNabb the cornerstone of the roster, everything else has been about that. The other eras have come and gone, but the franchise quarterback era remains in place."

"Quarterback Steve McNair is rehabilitating his shoulder every day, either at the Ravens training facility in Owings Mills or in his home state of Tennessee. He has heard talk about his possible retirement and speculation that the Ravens might trade for Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Donovan McNabb."

"In the NFC, Chicago and Minnesota seem like candidates to show interest. After their Super Bowl loss to Indianapolis last season, the Bears slipped in 2007. They could believe McNabb represents the difference between an early offseason and late postseason... In the AFC, along with the Ravens, would it be a shock if Kansas City made a run at McNabb?"

"During the inquiry, perhaps we'll find out once and for all whether quarterback Donovan McNabb actually lost his lunch on the field in Jacksonville during crunch time against the Pats, and why it took the Eagles so long to get those fourth quarter plays sent in."

"General manager Ozzie Newsome disputed an ESPN report that the Ravens are pondering making a substantial offer for Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Donovan McNabb."

"That pesky rumor has surfaced again that the Ravens are trying to trade for Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Donovan McNabb, though I'm guessing somebody just put two and two together after the hiring of former Eagles assistant coach John Harbaugh."

"Judging from what general manager Ozzie Newsome told the Baltimore Sun yesterday, speculation about the Ravens attempting to acquire quarterback Donovan McNabb from the Eagles might be a bit premature."

"It was only a matter of time before Donovan McNabb's name surfaced in some sort of trade rumor this off-season, and it has happened here at Super Bowl XLII. A report on ESPN yesterday said that the Baltimore Ravens, with new head coach John Harbaugh, are pondering making a substantial offer for the Eagles' veteran quarterback."

"It's all well and good for ESPN's Chris Mortensen to report that the Baltimore Ravens 'are seriously considering' trading for Donovan McNabb, but for that to actually happen the Eagles would have to want to trade him... There has been speculation that McNabb's hometown Chicago Bears might also be interested, but again, no evidence of Eagles interest in making such a deal."

"So Donovan asks not to be sent elsewhere, but for help to come from elsewhere. He chooses his headlines wisely, positioning his stand as if it were a party platform. He wants to stay, wants to win a championship here and finish his career here - no matter how unfair he thinks we have been toward him."

"Donovan McNabb has taken his pitch for more weapons to the blogosphere and intensified it. In his blog on yardbarker.com, the Eagles quarterback wrote Monday that he hoped his team would 'secure some playmakers in all three phases of the game' during the off-season, continuing a campaign he started near the end of the season."

"So, after yesterday's 17-9 win over the Buffalo Bills, it really does seem as if the franchise has positioned itself in such a way that McNabb is likely to be the starting quarterback in 2008. They would be negligent not to consider a trade if somebody made a significant offer but, short of that, it sounds as if he is coming back."

"As for the whispers that McNabb could be shopped around in the offseason, his teammates were vocal in their desire to see the veteran back next season."

"The Eagles finished the season Sunday the way they wanted to start it. Quarterback Donovan McNabb was in control, running back Brian Westbrook on a roll and the defense vintage tough in a 17-9 victory over the Buffalo Bills at Lincoln Financial Field."

"Debate if you’d like whether or not the McNabb Era should end. But his presence on the field Sunday should tell you this about Andy Reid’s outlook: 1) Next season will be to reload, not rebuild. 2) McNabb is the best option for reloading."

"Even if McNabb, who may or may not have made some remarks two weeks ago to Fox-TV reporter Pam Oliver about his future in Philadelphia, does return, the speculation about his job won't end until he or his presumed replacement, Kevin Kolb, leaves town."

"Just like that, McNabb had to look over his shoulder for really the first time since being drafted by the Eagles with the No. 2 overall pick in 1999. It's a situation that will linger as long as they are both on the roster."

"As McNabb himself predicted yesterday, in his final Wednesday news conference of the year, it's going to be an entertaining offseason. So far, indications are that the Eagles intend to try to win with McNabb next year, instead of handing the keys to 2007 top pick Kevin Kolb."

"The latest twist in the Eagles season that won’t go away is that quarterback Donovan McNabb could decide whether rookie successor Kevin Kolb gets into the finale Sunday at Lincoln Financial Field."

"Remember the off-season after the Eagles' trip to the Super Bowl? A disgruntled Terrell Owens called McNabb "the company man" and pointed out he, Owens, wasn't "the one who got tired in the Super Bowl." Remember two off-seasons ago? McNabb fired back at T.O. and accused him of committing a "black-on-black crime.""

"Whatever Andy Reid is really thinking, Donovan McNabb made it easier for him yesterday. If the master plan is to ease Kevin Kolb into the starting lineup in 2008, then McNabb moved and threw like the kind of franchise quarterback who will command a steep price in trade."

"If/when the Eagles decide to bring Donovan McNabb back next year as their quarterback, the video of this game is the one that will be playing on a continuous loop in their minds. McNabb shredded the New Orleans Saints, an amenable opponent, yesterday in the Louisiana"

"But the biggest decision is at quarterback. It always is. It's been difficult to read the Eagles' intentions - even as everyone has publicly said McNabb is staying, there have been a dozen indications that the Eagles are setting up to move on from the McNabb era. You wonder what Sunday means, what this little flourish at the end of a rough season means."

"Let's say the Eagles had no intention of keeping Donovan McNabb as their starting quarterback next season. Let's say they drew up a script of how they would hope the next couple of months might play out. How would it be any different than what is currently happening?"

"McNabb acknowledged he thought his Sunday pregame conversation with Fox reporter Pam Oliver was either off the record or not for attribution - the conversation that resulted in Oliver reporting that McNabb felt the Eagles organization was distancing itself from him."

"Refusing to tell reporters exactly what he said to Oliver, McNabb stood by his postgame denial that he ever told her "my knee is not an issue and the next place I go I will win"' -- leading many to believe he plans on playing elsewhere in 2008."

"This is a tricky one, but ultimately, I believe Pam Oliver. I believe Oliver when she said Sunday on Fox that Donovan McNabb gave her the impression that he believes that "his days in Philadelphia are numbered" and that "he sees an organization distancing itself from him.""

"In turn, he also left the impression that he would like his chances with basically the same team next season, which means McNabb at quarterback. First, the McNabb issue. Reid was as forceful and about as animated as the taciturn coach has been at a news conference when asked about the report by Oliver, who said she had spoken to McNabb before the game."

"Andy Reid flashed a smile, but the expression was in no way meant to reflect any feeling of joy or happiness on the part of the Eagles' coach. Instead, Reid was conveying his annoyance at once again being asked about the status of Donovan McNabb, and whether the team's starting quarterback had a secure future within the organization."