McNabb enjoys successful return

Donovan McNabb’s return to Philadelphia did not go smoothly, right down to his postgame press conference. But McNabb left with what he wanted most: a victory. He also left knowing that his time in Philadelphia was, indeed, appreciated.

McNabb completed just eight of 19 passes for 125 yards – only 10 in the second half – in Washington’s 17-12 win over Philadelphia. But McNabb did pick up 18 yards on a key third-down scramble in the fourth quarter to kill some time.

He did throw a 31-yard touchdown pass to tight end Chris Cooley, dropping a perfect throw over the top of linebacker Stewart Bradley. However, McNabb also missed some other open targets, with some throws affected by the pressure he was under.

Still, it was a successful return; he even received a standing ovation before the game.

“I said all week I wasn’t going to let the hoopla affect what the mindset was and the mindset was for all of us to be focused and ready to go and win the game,” McNabb said. “I was overwhelmed by the standing ovation and the reception I got. But when you boil down it’s about winning.”

Though it clearly meant something to McNabb, he didn’t over-dramatize its importance. Nor did he make it all about himself. His teammates wanted him to leave with a win; and they even presented him a game ball afterward.

“We had a little extra motivation, a certain teammate for us, No. 5,” linebacker London Fletcher said. “It felt good. We had to come in here and help him get a victory against a team that basically said, ‘You’re not good enough. This is what we think of you. We’ll trade you in the division.’ I think today he got the best of them.”

McNabb spoke to the team after the game.

“He was able to express to the team that the Eagles made a mistake,” Cooley said. “We all feel that.”

Cooley said McNabb never let his return to a city that he played in for 11 seasons become a big deal during the week.

“Everyone thinks about it, my nature is to think about it,” Cooley said. “Donovan played it down so much all week that we didn’t get wrapped up in it. He expressed that it was just another game, not only to the media but to the locker room. I didn’t want to wrap it all up in to that and I don’t think he did either. He never talked about it.”

McNabb took a long time getting dressed afterward and could only talk to the media for four minutes afterward as the Redskins hustled to catch the plane.

But there wasn’t much for McNabb to say.

“We’re glad we could help him get the victory,” Fletcher said. “I let him know beforehand that we were going to do this together”