But then, I've always liked what No. 5 has said during his media conference to open training camp.

No matter the circumstances, McNabb always has expressed confidence in himself and his team's ability to challenge in the NFC and for a Super Bowl.

That's the attitude you want from your quarterback.

Of course, I raised an eyebrow when McNabb said the Eagles, coming off an 8-8 season, "have not changed so much that we can't win the NFC East."

And I was tempted to blurt out, "Yeah, but you didn't," when McNabb rattled off how the Eagles should have beaten Dallas (38-17 loss at home) twice, the New York Giants (16-3, 16-13 losses) both times and the Washington Redskins (20-12 home loss) twice.

Still, it doesn't matter what me or any other doubter thinks. The Eagles will determine their destiny in 2008, and McNabb gives every appearance that he expects it to be a good one.

"I look forward to having a great year," McNabb said as he joined rookies and select veterans for drills yesterday. "I don't look at it from the individual aspect, but when you come off an 8-8 season, and then having been part of a [6-10 season in 2005] that year I got hurt [with a sports hernia and Mike McMahon] stepped in, you want to do better.

"I look forward to getting back to the type of season we had in 2004 that led us to the Super Bowl."

Super Bowl XXXIX was played on Feb. 6, 2005. It was the last postseason game McNabb has played for the Eagles.

The Birds played two playoff games after the 2006 season, but McNabb was out for the season by then with a torn anterior cruciate ligament.

Should the Eagles qualify for the playoffs this season, and McNabb is healthy enough, the game that will be played in January 2009 will mark almost 4 calendar years since his last postseason appearance.

It is a date he looks forward to without trepidation.

"The team has been to the playoffs," McNabb said. "I've been in the playoffs a lot, so it's not like I don't know how to play in the playoffs.

"For me, it's just doing what we need to do in order to get there. Once we're there, it will take care of itself. I've missed 3 years of not being in the playoffs. A lot of teams haven't been to the playoffs in 6 or 7 years. I look at it as just like riding a bike."

At least this time, as McNabb begins the "Tour de NFL," he will do so with two good legs.

Although neither he nor the Eagles would admit it, McNabb was not fully recovered from the ACL injury when training camp started last year, and was never fully healthy for most of the 2007 season.

How much that contributed to the 8-8 finish is debatable, but there is no question that McNabb looked little like the quarterback who had played in five Pro Bowls - especially early when the Eagles stumbled out of the gate at 3-5.

The Eagles are staking much, if not everything, on McNabb being a considerably better quarterback now that he finally appears healthy.

"I thought we would come out of the gate a little bit better than we did," McNabb said. "For myself, I expected to come out a lot better than I did.

"That was the frustrating part about it because you don't have all of your faculties - if it was the mobility or just the sudden movement to be able to react a little bit quicker. Fortunately, I've had a great offseason and look forward to having a way better start than last year."

Much was made of McNabb's comment about the Eagles needing more weapons after last season and management not really addressing those concerns on the offensive side of the ball.

But McNabb said the answer to the Eagles' passing woes could be found in this training camp.

The ACL limited what McNabb could do during last year's camp and that curtailed the opportunity for him and his receivers to develop chemistry and timing.

"I think it's going to be very important," McNabb said of training camp. "I think [he and the receivers] will take full advantage of that, having the opportunity to work with the guys, taking full advantage of going up against our corners, our safeties."

McNabb is 31 years old. He enters his 10th NFL season with an aura of this being a make-or-break campaign as far as his future with the Eagles.

When asked if he believed he needed to get back to the Super Bowl to secure his future with the Eagles, McNabb said, "No, I'll be here."

But that is still the goal, and as he has said at virtually each of these news conferences for the past 10 years, he believes the Eagles can make it happen.

"It's not just the teams in our division," he said. "It's the NFC, period. I feel like we can compete with all of them. If you ask those teams, they'll tell you the same, that we have the type of team you have to look out for." *

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