Phil Sheridan | McNabb, knee back in step

With a few flicks of his right arm, Donovan McNabb restored order to the Eagles' universe last night.

In his first game action since blowing out his right knee last November, McNabb looked every bit an elite NFL quarterback. Just as comforting to the festive, football-hungry crowd at Lincoln Financial Field, the Eagles as a whole looked like a contending team - not the disorganized, uninterested bunch that was slapped around in Monday's preseason opener in Baltimore.

"After that first pass," McNabb said after a 27-10 victory over the Carolina Panthers, "I think guys loosened up, and it was just Eagles football again."

McNabb set the tone, zipping the ball with authority to five different receivers, completing 6 of 9 passes for 138 yards. His passer rating, arrived at through a complex formula designed to measure a quarterback's efficiency, was a spiffy 109.7.

"I tried to treat it just like practice," McNabb said. "Coming out, running the offense. If nothing's there downfield, just checking down. Fortunately for us, we were able to make some plays, get the guys involved. . . . For the first unit, I think we were able to click on all cylinders."

McNabb said the knee felt fine during and after the game. The real test may come today. If McNabb is reading his morning paper without pain or swelling in his knee, that would be a major plus.

It is always risky to make too much of a preseason game. Coaches don't put together the comprehensive game plans they use in the regular season, and the play calling bears a distinct whiff of vanilla. But this one mattered, at least as a gauge of McNabb's status. It was the first time he has played without the bright red vest that reminds defensive players not to hit the quarterback in practice.

"I didn't feel like I had to get hit to be reminded I'm playing football," McNabb said. "This wasn't a test for me at all. I already know I can play this game at a high level."

The first thing that struck you was the play calling. Head coach Andy Reid could easily have protected McNabb, calling a lot of running plays and quick-release pass plays. That would have made it tougher to judge McNabb's status, and it would have signaled a level of concern the coach hasn't voiced until now.

"He was calm. He was cool in there," Reid said. "He didn't rush or panic at all. That's the way he plays. That's him right there. I liked what I saw."

But Reid, as is his sometimes troubling wont, came out throwing. On the very first play from scrimmage, McNabb faked a handoff to Brian Westbrook, stepped back into the pocket and waited for new wide receiver Kevin Curtis to get open on a crossing pattern. McNabb delivered the ball in rhythm, and Curtis turned it into a 27-yard gain.

McNabb stumbled a little as he rolled to his right on the next play, but it appeared to be commonplace tangling of legs, not a problem with the knee. He threw on the run, and Jason Avant made a nice catch along the sideline for 16 more yards. A few players later, facing third-and-long, McNabb threw a bullet for Reggie Brown. A Panthers defensive back may have gotten a hand in - the replays didn't really show the play clearly - but Brown could not hold on.

The drive ended with a 52-yard field goal by David Akers.

On McNabb's last play of the night, a third and 10, the Panthers' defense brought a full blitz and three defenders washed over McNabb like the surf.

He lost his helmet but popped up and jogged off the field as if everything was just fine.

And so, in the Eagles' universe, it was.