McNabb has come back from a benching before
The decision stung, caused a firestorm in his city and led to a round of stories and speculation. Then Donovan McNabb put them all to rest the only way he knew how. By dominating another team.
The questions faded. The Eagles rolled. McNabb remained the starter.
“I’ve been in this situation before,” he said this week, providing a reminder that few probably needed.
Yes, he has. Two seasons before Redskins coach Mike Shanahan pulled McNabb in the final two minutes against the Lions on Oct. 31, the Eagles benched him at halftime of a Nov. 23, 2008, game vs. Baltimore after a six-quarter stretch in which he threw five interceptions. The Eagles lost badly, and McNabb returned to the starting lineup and threw four touchdown passes in his next game. In the final five games after the benching — four of them wins — McNabb threw nine touchdowns and one interception, and the Eagles reached the NFC Championship game.
But this time is a little different. In Philadelphia, McNabb had a history. Right now he’s looking for a future. Then it was all about his performance. Now he faces questions about his ability to pick up a new offense, about his ability to run a two-minute offense and about his fate in Washington. His passer rating is 76.0, 10.5 below his career mark.
The fact that he is facing his former team after he was removed for the final two minutes adds to the drama for Monday night’s game.
“Donovan can handle anything,” Eagles coach Andy Reid said. “He’s a pretty strong-minded guy.”
McNabb has talked several times with both Shanahan and offensive coordinator Kyle Shanahan since the benching. All sides say the relationship is strong and talks of a new contract remain alive. A strong second half likely would make the past two weeks a distant memory. A weak — or even mediocre — one and the speculation probably will intensify.
“When he’s challenged, that’s when he’s at his best,” said one NFL executive who worked with McNabb in Philadelphia.
Regardless, his demeanor will remain the same: even.
“I like to handle my business behind closed doors,” McNabb said. “You come up with a solution, and you move on. For a lot of guys it’s a hard deal to manage because they want to vent.”
But venting wouldn’t help, not with a team on which nine of the players who start Monday are in their first year in this system. It’s not just on McNabb.
“His game against Houston was the best game I saw him play in his career,” ESPN analyst Ron Jaworski said. “There have been some uneven games, but you have to look at the whole body of this offense right now. They have some issues. The line has really struggled; there’s too much quick pressure on the quarterback.”
There’s talk the playbook has been cut in half to help McNabb. The Redskins deny that; Jaworski said it would make sense for any quarterback new to a system to have the playbook shrunk. There’s also no doubt that McNabb is still adapting to new terminology.
“It’s definitely not automatic,” Kyle Shanahan said. “I don’t think it’s automatic for anybody, but it’s definitely gotten better from when he got here — and it should. I expect it to get better the next eight games.”
Add it up and it equals struggles, rumors and speculation. It doesn’t matter that it’s not all McNabb’s doing.
“It’s complicated,” McNabb said. “But you want it to happen now.”
