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"I'm used to it," McNabb said yesterday. "I understand the position that I'm in. We had that early success and then things have gone the way they have the last four years and people are sitting back and saying, 'What's next?'
"I do think it gets blown way out of proportion. With the injury, if you don't say anything, then people think it's bigger than what it is and if you do say something, some people still think you're hiding something. It's a no-win situation and I've been part of them for a long time. I've heard people say, 'Donovan is fat,' I'm out of shape and I'm too big. I just don't get caught up in it."
The only heat McNabb dealt with yesterday was the atmospheric variety inside the Eagles' practice bubble. That's where he conducted his eighth annual camp for area children, age 11 to 14. McNabb's father, Sam, helped at the camp, as did teammates including Tra Thomas, Jon Runyan, Brian Dawkins and former Eagle Jeremiah Trotter.
McNabb indicated he was not worried about the tightness in his shoulder and that he would resume throwing this coming week.
"The shoulder is just tight," McNabb said. "We did the right thing by making sure we were cautious with it and continuing to stretch and rehab. Everything is fine now."
One team source suggested last week that if McNabb were a baseball player, he'd have spent 15 days on the disabled list and returned.
"I don't know if it would have been 15 days," McNabb said. "I think it would have been two or three days. If I had to play today, I could. For all the fake doctors and analysts, my body is fine."
The quarterback said he hated being sidelined during the Eagles' recently completed camp, mostly because he was bonding with new cornerback Asante Samuel.
"Me and Asante started trash-talking early in this camp and it ended up we were both sitting on the sideline," McNabb said, referring to the hamstring injury that sidelined Samuel. "We'll bring it back in training camp."
The Eagles reconvene as a full squad July 24 at Lehigh University, and McNabb will be busy until then. He'll remain in Philadelphia this week and continue to rehabilitate his shoulder. He'll make two public appearances Wednesday as part of an effort to educate the public on high blood pressure.
After this week, McNabb plans to return to his home in Chandler, Ariz., and continue his off-season workout plan. He said the primary focus is on throwing the football.
"I'm good now," he said. "Where I go from here is I continue to train and I continue to work out hard in the weight room and on the field. Right now, it's more field stuff for me. I can go out and throw patterns and get that timing and my arm where it needs to be so when I get to training camp, there's no looking back."
As usual, McNabb said he has invited his teammates, particularly his receiving corps, to join him for workouts in Arizona.
"That's in mid-July, right before camp," he said. "For me, it's important because we're going right into camp, and we've already been working on different things. The thing I like the most about it is the bonding. I've been out there eight years, and I've always felt we built chemistry out there. I've learned from guys like Doug Flutie and John Elway that you should spend time with guys away from football.
"We spend time together with our families. We go to train, and the wives and kids go to the water park, the mall or arcade, and then we get together at night for dinner."
In 40 days, McNabb reports for training camp to start his 10th NFL season.
The last time McNabb had a shoulder problem in the spring was 2004, but he was fine by training camp and the team reached the Super Bowl for just the second time in franchise history.
"Hopefully we'll have the same outcome with us winning at the end," McNabb said.
But McNabb knows things are different than in 2004. Receiver Terrell Owens joined the team that season.
"We were a team that was right there, and we were right there consistently," he said. "Then when we brought in a guy like T.O., the attitudes kind of shifted. The defense had that extra confidence because we had somebody like T.O. On offense, we had that extra weapon and we knew we had something.
"This year, we're putting in pieces of the puzzle on defense. Offensively, we have an experienced bunch and the confidence is there, but it's still kind of wait-and-see."
McNabb said a good start will be critical for the Eagles.
"It's going to be very important," he said. "If you look at the way we played at the end of last year, if we continue to feed off that and elevate that, it would give us a lot of confidence and that's a major part of the deal. I thought in 2004 . . . every time we stepped on the field we knew we were going to win, and it was just a matter of by how much. We have to regain that confidence back."
See a photo gallery from McNabb's camp at http://go.philly.com/photos.
at 215-854-2577 or bbrookover@phillynews.com.
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