McNabb likely to return as Eagles starting QB next year, but. . .
December 17
Philadelphia Daily News Columnist Les Bowen
"WITH EVERY successive solid Donovan McNabb performance, it seems less likely that the Eagles will want to change quarterbacks after the season.Of course, if the Birds miss the playoffs and McNabb throws four bad picks in the game that eliminates them, we might find ourselves right back where we were last month. But let's pretend for a moment that he continues to play well. From what you've seen of McNabb, overall, this season, and from what you've seen of Kevin Kolb, are you really as ready to turn the page as you might have been at halftime of that Baltimore game back on Nov. 23?If the Eagles run the table here, even if they become the first team to ever miss the playoffs at 10-5-1, I don't see how Joe Banner and Andy Reid can comfortably make that switch. Equally relevant, though, is McNabb's thinking on the subject.A lot of people were surprised at the end of last season, when McNabb spoke so fervently of wanting to continue to play in a city that he very much believes has treated him unfairly. The benching and its attendant hoopla has brought those lack-of-appreciation feelings to the surface. After the Arizona game and again Monday night, McNabb made pointed comments to network postgame shows. On Thanksgiving, among other things, he spoke of needing to have a postseason conversation with Eagles management. Monday night, again egged on by postgame panelists' declarations of his greatness and the lack of due respect he has received in Philadelphia, McNabb went all Joni Mitchell on us."When you've been in one place for 10 years, people get tired of seeing you and they say they want something new," McNabb said, after Steve Young burbled that McNabb could play another 10 years, at age 32. "Until you're gone, they don't realize what they have."McNabb also talked about his continuing unhappiness over the decision to bench him - despite clear evidence from teammates' words and their performances that benching the franchise quarterback galvanized the team. McNabb asked, "Why use me as a scapegoat?"Because you're getting paid to be the face of the Eagles, and you'd just turned the ball over seven times in seven quarters while playing the worst back-to-back games of your life?Overall, McNabb has completed 60.9 percent of his passes this season (307 for 504) for 3,511 yards, 21 touchdowns and 11 interceptions. With two games left, that's already the most yardage and most TDs he's managed since 2004, the Super Bowl season, and the second-highest yardage total of his career. It's hard to recall the last time an NFL team discarded a 32-year-old quarterback with the numbers McNabb is on pace to post this year."He's playing right now as well as he's ever played," Andy Reid said yesterday.In the end, though, McNabb's attitude toward the situation could affect the situation. His disconnected, grudging "Guess I'll stick around so y'all can blame more stuff on me" routine sure seemed to be one of the factors that nearly derailed the Eagles' season."
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