MCNABB WILL START AGAINST CARDINALS
The Philadelphia Inquirer Blog - Eagles
MCNABB WILL START AGAINST CARDINALS
Bob Brookover
Donovan McNabb will be back at quarterback Thursday night when the Eagles play the Arizona Cardinals at Lincoln Financial Field.
Coach Andy Reid made that announcement at his weekly news conference following the Eagles' ugly 36-7 loss to the Baltimore Ravens Sunday during which he pulled McNabb in favor of Kevin Kolb after halftime.
"As I said (Sunday), sometimes you have to take a step back to take a step forward in a positve way and Donovan will do that," Reid said. "This has nothing to do with Kolb's performance or Donovan's performance."
Reid added that he would not have changed his decision to relieve McNabb with Kolb in the second half against the Ravens.
"Donovan is going out to play," Reid said. "Sometimes it's good to step back and look at things at a little different angle. I expect him to go out and play his heart out. I think I know Donovan McNabb better than anybody in this room. Six turnovers, that's not him. That's not his game. That's not any part of his game."
McNabb had six turnovers in the Eagles' last two games and has thrown interceptions in each of his last four games.
Asked if McNabb would start the final five games, Reid said, "As I sit here right now, he's my starting quarterback."
Reid said his decision Sunday was based upon what he thought was best for his team first and for McNabb second.
"I will make every decision on what I think is best for this football team," he said. "That's the seat I sit in and the way I'll always approach it."
Reid also defended his decision to have quarterbacks coach Pat Shurmur inform McNabb of the quarterback change during halftime.
"That's how things are," Reid said. "I really don't care what anybody else thinks about that. That's how we do it. The coach approaches that player and then I talk to them afterward. It's not a matter of disrespecting Donovan or any other player."
Asked if he was concerned about the reception McNabb will receive before the Eagles' Thanksgiving night game against Arizona, Reid said, "You can't worry about all that. You take care of what you can control. You get rid of the ifs and play."
Great News! It is about time a smart decision was made...Go Eagles! The play calling is what really sucks!!!— Sapphireblue
Comment removed.- Hey Bob65S, I respoct your comments but lets face it, the tickets are already purchased, and if you choose not to renew there is 60,000 waiting in line to take them. That is just a bad investment. And contrary to the Philadelphia fan, booing will do nothing with respect to change. It will just let you have a forum to vent your frustration. As for Kolb and being in a bad situation, the truth is that he is not very good. In 4 career mop up time games, he has been sacked 2 times and he has 3 picks.— rvb2321
- NEWSFLASH -- Earth to Andy Reid -- Come in Andy..... The Eagles will not win the Super Bowl this year. Sorry to break the bad news to you. Therefore, it makes more sense to name Kolb the starter for the rest of this season to see what the kid can do. We know what McNabb has done. We need to move forward and find out if our future plans include Kolb or not. Oh, and dont put too much pressure on the kid expecting him to pass 70% of the time. Give him a running game and give the team a chance to win. You might surprise yourself and do something right for a change. That was a gutless decision to name McNabb to start against the Cardinals. What purpose does it serve?— Brauny
- There's a lot of comparison Jay. All three relied extensively on their running games earlier on in their career (Google McNabb McNair comparisons and find some early 2000s/late 90s articles) that resulted in McNabb being compared often to McNair. Culpepper I always thought was overrated, but still had a somewhat similar playing style (Google "Eagles/Vikings games Mcnabb Culpepper" and you will find plenty of discussion about their similarities). The most striking comparison I found, and again primarily between McNabb and McNair is the fact that once they peaked in their respective losing Super Bowls, they were never close to the same level again, and were plagued by injuries from then on out. If you can find any other quarterback that McNabb was compared to as frequently as McNair (and to a lesser extent Culpepper) then I would love to hear it. Your serve.— evolutionary
- It's the right move but overshadowed by so many bad ones. This guy really needs to go. Any reasonable person would agree with that. It's over. He's had a ton of success but the last 4 years have seen just one good season and 4 years in itself is an eternity. This isn't 2002 anymore..which by the way, he and his team choked.— davekrieg
- Calm down people, we are still 20 million under the cap. Good job Joe!— Palm Coast Jimmy
- what's with Cowher ? 15yrs one ring. i can't wait 15 years ! !— oldBird
- what's with Cowher ? 15yrs one ring. i can't wait 15 years ! !— oldBird
- It was a sad thing to watch 5 standing by himself after the half. It should have been Andy being stripped of his head-phones.— TBear
- haha gsu, good point on overall QB quality. But that wasn't my point -- purely in terms of style of quarterback, none of the ones you listed, good or bad, with the possible exception of Elway, had a similar enough style to warrant comparison.— evolutionary
- To the posters who say give Kolb a chance with the right weapons, let s see: a healthy Westbrook and Buck, a healthy Shawn Andrews, your three PRIME receivers: Curtis, Brown, and Smith. Is that what you want for Kolb? Why wouldn t you want same for Donovan? What could he do in the same situation? THINK! Give Donavan a healthy heads up hands up on Thursday evening. How about it? what is the worst that could happen. A— billgfc
- Comment removed.
- evol - I use to try to compare DMac to Elway. (Full disclosure: I'm a DMac fan and would do so to defend him.) I tried running QB angle; the overblown expectations; the 0 for 3 SB's until a new philosophy, coach and TD were added and Elway finally won 2 SB's in his late 30's all w/o an ACL in one knee - BUT I recently looked up Elway's home page (http://www.johnelway.com/bio.aspx) and saw the "47 game-winning or game-tying drives in the fourth quarter" quote. This made me realize that despite high draft pick, running QB, super strong (sometimes too strong) arm, etc. DMac couldn't hold Elway's jock. Heck, even uber-McNabb-defender Jason Whitlock doesn't think DMac is a good 4th quarter QB, nor will he win the Lombardi Trophy while wearing Eagles green. (http://msn.foxsports.com/nfl/story/8822010)— Phrossty
- the logical move would be to start kolb. which is why andy has mcnabb starting. the real question is why on earth would mcnabb play? first of all, he is not going to be traded b/c no one is going to take on that contract. so, he will be cut and then will wind up somewhere, if he even wants to keep playing - which doesn't seem all that clear to me. so, his value is what it is and playing in the next few games won't change that. there are more than enough reasons why this team is bad for the personnel chief of a team in need of a qb to convince himself to take a chance on mcnabb. so, how does it benefit mcnabb to go back out there? with no running game, no receivers and no offensive line and a coach that is clearly panicking, mcnabb is just a big bullseye for defenses. when reid's back was up against the wall, he cut mcnabb loose, just like he has cut so many other veterans loose, and he didn't have the decency or courage to take 5 seconds and tell him to his face. if i was mcnabb, i'd refuse to play and i would say very clearly that reid wrecked this team and it is clear that mcnabb is the scapegoat and that he isn't going to participate in the charade anymore. for who, for what?— doo dah man
