But McNabb felt he needed to talk to his team Monday, in the wake of the Eagles' second successive upset loss, 23-17, to the visiting Washington Redskins.

"I think everyone has to understand the situation we're in," the quarterback told reporters yesterday. "We've lost two games, back to back, that we shouldn't have lost. The Dallas game, I felt like we shouldn't have lost that game, either . . . I tried to let them know that it's easy for us to sit back and say we could be undefeated right now or we should be 4-1 . . . but we're not. So, in order for us to correct that . . . we have to do it right now . . . Guys have to dig deep, you have to challenge yourself, and you have to go out here and display that on the football field and get the job done on Sunday."

McNabb took the first step in the process many observers have felt was overdue - taking charge of a foundering team. He hasn't really played poorly as the Birds have slipped from 2-1 to 2-3, but he hasn't been good enough, particularly in crunch-time situations - such as that third-and-1 at the Redskins' 2 Sunday that dissolved into a confused attempt to run an audible, and lost 3 yards.

"Missed opportunities," McNabb said, when asked what he gleaned from the tape of Sunday's loss. "We can say 'playcalling,' but when the play is called, we have to be productive. And if it was a pass dropped, if it was a bad throw on my part, if it was not picking up guys in the run game that could have spared us . . . [watching the tape makes it] something that we all see."

It was interesting that McNabb mentioned playcalling. On his radio show Monday night, Brian Westbrook said he thinks the offense and the team do better when Andy Reid isn't calling plays and can oversee the game. Reid and offensive coordinator Marty Mornhinweg seem to be splitting the playcalls this season, instead of Mornhinweg taking primary responsibility, as he has most of the time the past few seasons.

One problem is that the running game has been surprisingly ineffective for a team with a big, strong offensive line. Obviously, Westbrook (54 carries, 194 yards, 3.6 yards per carry) has been limited or absent since suffering an ankle injury in Game 3. He was showing that he had recovered when, six plays into Sunday's game, he fractured two ribs, an injury that kept Westbrook off the practice field yesterday and is likely to sideline him in San Francisco.

But even when Westbrook has been healthy, he hasn't seen the level of success he sustained a year ago. Left guard Todd Herremans suggested yesterday that the running game needs to get into a rhythm, and vowed that it would. It would seem that getting into a rhythm would be easier if the Eagles ran a little more often - a complaint that has been raised before, once or twice, during the Reid reign.

Asked about the emphasis on the running game, Westbrook said: "We spend time on it. We haven't really executed as well as we would like to be executing at this point in the season. I think it's one of the things that we have to go back and spend some more time on. Everybody knows we're more of a passing team, but we have to put some emphasis on the run."

Again yesterday, Reid insisted that the back spasms that have kept All-Pro right guard Shawn Andrews out of the lineup since halftime of the Dallas game Sept. 15 are not the reason the run game is struggling. Herremans noted that sub Max Jean-Gilles grades out well in film review. But Westbrook acknowledged not having Andrews - who seemed no closer to playing yesterday - is an issue.

"Shawn is a Pro Bowl guard, he's one of the best guards in the game," Westbrook said. "I can't say that it's all because Shawn isn't there, but it definitely would help having him in there. We have a very good offensive line without Shawn, but we also know that when you have a talented guy, a first-round guy like Shawn in there, you're going to be better. We would love to get him back as soon as possible."

Reid said of Andrews, "There hasn't been a lot of improvement there," a startling admission from the coach, who normally is exceedingly optimistic about injured players' progress. Andrews, asked if he felt any better, made a juggling motion with his hands, as if to indicate the situation was up and down. Andrews had seemed very optimistic after visiting with a back specialist last week.

Westbrook, not surprisingly, was supportive of McNabb's meeting.

"As a leader on this team, you expect things like that from him," Westbrook said.

"He's straight, direct, blunt and honest with his situation, with himself, first, which I think is always a great leadership quality," free safety Brian Dawkins said, when asked about McNabb's manner. "You deal with yourself and your issues first, as far as what [you] need to fix, and then call it as [you see] it with the rest of us. I think, hopefully, to a man, we understood. I know I did, anyway . . . I'm on the exact same page with him."

Dawkins was asked if McNabb can still pick up the team, the way he once did.

"Yes," Dawkins said. "Much has been said about his being injured in the past and having a little [chest] injury now. I believe in him. I believe that at this time, where his focus is right now, and the way he's feeling right now - different from any other time - is that [picking up the team] is what needs to be done, and he's focused on doing that.

"We're not going to sit here and look at 'The No. 5 Show' on Sunday, 'Let's see what 5 can do.' That's not what we're doing. But in those situations where he has to make a play, I believe you're going to see him do that, because that's where his mind is right now."

McNabb also addressed the situation on his blog, at www.yardbarker.com/users/DonovanMcNabb. He provided context for his postgame remarks, when he insisted the Eagles were a better team than the Redskins, who seemed to dominate both lines of scrimmage.

"I'm embarrassed with the way I played," McNabb wrote. "I didn't do enough to win the game for my team. I take that to heart. I want the ball in my hand when the game is on the line, and, if I have it, I have to make a play. I'll take that responsibility. All three of our losses were within a score, so one play could have made a difference - a fumble, an interception, calling an audible, not calling an audible.

"I am a proud person, and I work hard to prepare to win each and every week. Certainly, there have been times where we have been beaten. Take nothing away from other teams, who also prepare hard and have a high skill level. You can't win every week. But losing in the fashion that we have just doesn't sit well with me." *