Redskins quarterback Donovan McNabb said he supports his agent, Fletcher Smith, and what was in his statement. But he also said any issues he has with his coaches he wants to deal with behind closed doors. Speaking on his paid weekly radio show on ESPN 980, McNabb responded for the first time since Smith blistered the Redskins in a statement last week.
For a reminder of what it read, click here.
For Kyle Shanahan’s response, click here.
Now, McNabb’s response to the situation:
On the statement released by his agent: “Let’s put it this way, I support my agent in this situation. People need to understand that over my 12-year career, any conversations I have or any difficulties I may have with coaches, I have man to man conversations with. If that’s Andy in Philly or Mike or Kyle. Every conversation I have I have between us two behind closed doors and it stays that way.”
On if he talked with his agent: “We’ve talked. We’re on the same page and we’re moving on from this matter.”
More on discussions with agent: “I discuss with my agent if he asks what’s going on. That’s something we talk about. I guess as you read, he put his thoughts into the whole deal and not Donovan’s thoughts. I support my agent. We’ve worked together for years and I will continue to work with him.”
On reaction to the statement: “I was upset about the reaction. Did you see anything in there that [said] Donovan said?”
On leaks: “I don’t take shots at people; it’s not how I operate. It goes back to me having conversations with coaches and what I talk about in there stays in there. I don’t leak anything and tell the press what was said. That’s something I keep amongst the two of us.”
On his relationship with Kyle Shanahan, if it’s still good: “I’ve always said I thought we have a good relationship. There are some things leaked out there as far as me not being able to grasp an offense, me being stubborn in running the offense, me not being able to read defenses, things of that nature. When you hear things like that you question a lot of where it’s coming from and whose thoughts and why am I hearing this?”
On what he thought when he read the statement: “When I read the whole thing, I didn’t see nothing wrong with it.”
On if he had any problems with it: “That’s his thoughts. I don’t have a problem with his thoughts.”
On if he believes the Shanahans don’t think he can run their offense: “Have I heard that from them directly? No. But I heard the leaks so-called have said that’s what’s been said.”
On if he said the Redskins ran more screens to help manage the rush vs. Dallas: “I did not say that.”
On if he agrees with that implication, that things changed when Rex took over: “I don’t see what people are seeing in that. What I’m understanding from it is that we ran a quick game, which is a three-step drop, the screen game… I’ve had a lot of people ask me have they changed everything and I said no. I said I ran a lot of plays that Rex ran against Dallas. Maybe people see more screen passes or more three-steps. I don’t know. When people look into this, obviously they’ll tie us together because we’ve work together for so long and rightfully so. I don’t see anything different from what a Drew Rosenhaus or anyone else would say for their client.”
On if he supports what his agent said: “I support my agent and I support his thoughts.”
On if there will be more statements: “That’ll be something we have to see.”
More on leaks: “Why would you leak anything? I don’t understand what leaks are about when you can talk about it with that person. I do my work behind closed doors talking man to man. If that’s what people want to put out there then they put it out there. We’ll see.”
On if he talked to Kyle last week: “Yes I did. We discussed a lot of different things. Those are ones I’ll keep between Kyle and I. We got things out there on the table and we were able to move on.”
On if it’s a good relationship: “We’re on the same page. We have a good relationship.”
On if he’s going to ask for his release after the season: “No, that’s false.”
On why he’d still want to play here: “It was funny when the reports came out about me asking to be released. Would I want to play here? Yes, because of what we have here with the guys we can do good things with. Would I like to be the quarterback here? Absolutely. Obviously this offseason we’ll find out what the result is.”
On if anything would have to change for him if he did come back: “Things would obviously have to change, relationships have to be better, conversations have to be better. But that’s something you do over time.”
On whose decision it is for him to return: “The ones that are evaluating.”
On if he’s upset he signed his contract extension: “Not at all.”
On if he expects his agent and Mike Shanahan to talk: “Yes indeed.”
On Shanahan waiting for Fletcher Smith to call him so they can meet: “From what I understand I don’t know if there’s a date set, but I believe it’s sometime soon.”
On if he’s heard from the owner or GM: “I haven’t sat and talked with either one yet…and not by phone.”
On if he trusts people at Redskins Park: “Building a trust takes over time. That doesn’t happen overnight. Building a relationship is the same way.”
On if he’s sorry he was traded here: “Not at all. I’ve enjoyed my experience here and look for good things to happen.”
On his contract and if the Redskins could wait up until the start of the season to release him without owing him more than $3.5 million: “I haven’t heard that. Teams can do what they want. That wouldn’t be in a professional manner, I wouldn’t think. We’ll see what happens. There will be communication from different parties and we’ll find out what we can do.”
On if it would be unprofessional to wait a long time: “Obviously if they have the answer you would like to hear it. But you don’t want it to drag out through June, July, going into August and then all of a sudden this is what we want to do.”
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