His first six NFL seasons were sprinkled with more than enough success to overshadow the occasional controversy and injury. Five trips to the playoffs, four to the NFC championship game, and one appearance in the Super Bowl made him a sought-after national commercial star and ranked the Eagles quarterback among the best at his craft.

From 1999 through 2004, McNabb's record as the Eagles' starting quarterback was 56-23 in the regular season and 7-5 in the postseason.

He was a shooting star on a consistent contender.

But the road since the Eagles' three-point Super Bowl loss to the New England Patriots in 2005 has mostly been disastrous for McNabb.

He has been antagonized by former teammate Terrell Owens, undergone two major surgeries, and failed to play 16 games in each of the last three seasons, including two in which he couldn't complete the year.

McNabb's record as a starting quarterback since the Super Bowl is 17-16, and he has failed to make a playoff appearance in the last three seasons.

That's why, as McNabb began his 10th season yesterday with a cast of mostly anonymous rookies at Lehigh University, it was more than fair to declare that the Eagles' franchise quarterback had arrived at a crossroads in his career.

Kevin Kolb, who has moved from No. 3 to No. 2 on the depth chart, is the Eagles' quarterback in waiting just as Aaron Rodgers was in Green Bay before Brett Favre filed his retirement papers with the NFL earlier this year.

McNabb, who will be 32 in November and qualifies as a member of coach Andy Reid's recently introduced "30-plus club," which entitles him to extra days off during training camp, isn't interested in an AARP card at this stage of his career. In his mind, talk of his demise is greatly exaggerated.

Ask McNabb about the past and he wants to talk about the future.

"I think any time you begin to dwell on the past, that means your future is not bright," the quarterback said after the Eagles' morning workout. "I'm looking forward to having a great year. I look forward to getting back to the type of season we had in 2004 that led us to the Super Bowl, but most importantly coming out of the gates and starting fast."

From 2001 through 2004, the Eagles ruled the NFC East with McNabb at quarterback. Now, the Dallas Cowboys are the defending division champions, coming off a 13-win season, and the New York Giants are the Super Bowl champions, coming off a stunning win over the New England Patriots.

And yet, when you ask McNabb about the NFC East, he says the Eagles are every bit as good as their rivals. No fear is his motto when it comes to the divisional opponents.

"We beat the Cowboys last year, and we should have beaten them in the first game," McNabb said. "The Redskins, we should have beaten them the first time. The Giants, we should have beaten them both times. It's not just the teams in our division, 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. We have the kind of team you have to look out for."

McNabb's health and performance will be vital to making his view of the Eagles become a reality. It's true the Eagles made a playoff run and finished first in the NFC East without McNabb in 2006. But in the last three seasons, the team is just 8-9 in the 17 games the quarterback hasn't started.

The coaches love Kolb, but the players, especially the veteran ones, are counting on McNabb.

"To have him around for a full season would be big for us," running back Brian Westbrook said earlier this month.

The good news on this relatively dull day was that the tendinitis that forced the Eagles to shut down McNabb in June is gone in July. The quarterback said the tightness he felt had disappeared and his velocity was back. What said even more was the way he threw the football.

He hit wide receiver Michael Gasperson with a precisely thrown laser in the afternoon for a 20-yard touchdown during a seven-on-seven drill. Rookie DeSean Jackson said he could tell the difference between this McNabb and the one that was struggling to throw the football last month.