Reid: McNabb to start Thursday against Cardinals

by JasonB on Nov 24, 2008 12:06 PM EST in News Comment 25 comments

At his Monday Morning press conference Andy Reid announced that Donovan will start at home against the Cardinals Thanksgiving night.

Reid says the decision wasn't based on the play of Kolb or McNabb yesterday.

Andy stressed that the Eagles face a short week and that they must put Baltimore behind them and focus on Arizona.

When asked whether McNabb is the starter for the remainder of the season, Reid says "As I sit here now he's my starting Quarterback."

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He deftly...

…didn’t answer the question about whether Donovan is the starter for the rest of the year. Is he on a short leash? Is this his last chance and if he struggles, do we see Kolb for the remainder of the season? He didn’t answer (obviously) any of those questions. Annoying. That PC was like 4 minutes long.

by ajay on Nov 24, 2008 12:27 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

I’m a little surprised. They could be in complete denial that rebuilding is here, or it could just be not wanting to give Kolb his first start on a short week.

I have a feeling we’re on the QB carousel for the rest of the season. It’s going to be a long, bumpy, nauseating ride.

This team is a mess right now. Jeff Lurie and Joe Banner have a lot of thinking to do.

I wonder if I can bill Jeff Lurie and Peter Angelos for the years of therapy their teams are going to put me through.

by BrianS on Nov 24, 2008 1:13 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

I hope

that we get to hear from Banner and Lurie at some point. It may be unconventional to hear from them mid-season, but this is a goddamn mess right now. At the end of the season at least.

by ajay on Nov 24, 2008 1:35 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

If anyone did not know this was going to happen they are idiots.

"I need to do a better job of putting players in the right position to perennially come up short of expectations"

by Whodie126 on Nov 24, 2008 1:51 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

What the press conference should have been

A better press conference would read: “Who cares about the quarterback? That’s not the problem here, I want you all to know I’ve dug my head out of my ass and am ready to run the ball”

by Big Silly on Nov 24, 2008 2:13 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

I can only describe this as a circus

From top to bottom it’s a mess and the buck stops with Andy Reid not even wanting to tell D-Mac he was benched.

Seattle, the world's worst sports city.

by SSreporters on Nov 24, 2008 4:21 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

I'm perplexed

This should not be about Mcnabb. The eagles run the most predicatable and one sided offense in the universe. Things need to be cleaned up, but Donovans a scapegoat in this debacle. Think about it. . . . The lack of a back up for Mcnabb when he was injured, what a mess, Garcia was amazing and should have been resigned, but think of how terrible it felt watching Feeley and Mcmahon and detmer(I liked detmer though) run the offense. Think of the special teams woes of last year, losing important games early in the season because of overlooked shortcomings. Think of the goal line/ short yardage shortcomings this year. Not to mention the very disappointing non aquisition of a number 1 wide out. The inability to adapt is unbelievable by our head coach, and team of offensive co-ordinators. MCNABB IS NOT GOING TO RUN, I REPEAT, NOT GOING TO RUN. So run Buck up the gut. He picked up 8 yards on a first down vs. the ravens then they let him sit on the sideline. Smash him up the middle. Then get westbrook attacking the edges. Why couldn’t we keep Tony Hunt and smash him at the line. Have a three headed attack. HMMMM. West Buck and Duce. . . that worked pretty well didn’t it. WAAAAAAY too much pressure has been placed on DMac and Westbrook and now there banged up and we have nothing. Desean Jackson has been amazing. He should be our Wes Welker. He’ll be 1000 plus yards easy in an efficient system. Its not all gone to hell. The defense is Great. I love love love our defense except for a few minor holes, but JJ is the greatest, I love that man. Andy has lost his edge. That being a mobile Mcnabb, one of the greatest weapons in football. And now that he’s a pocket QB, Andy doesn’t have an edge. Absolutely no edge on the apposing defense, a complete inability to find and exploit weaknesses. What Mcnabb needs now is a Joe Gibbs, Bill Cowher kind of offensive situation. And in that situation he would thrive and regain his place as one of the best in the game. I love Andy Reid but way too many loose ends and something’s gotta give.

by ddoubleu on Nov 24, 2008 5:25 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

AMEN!

The only problem is …McNabb by nature is NOT a pocket QB …hes too used being able to scramle when he feels trapped….now he cant…to many injuries…..so now when he feels trapped he throws bad passes….RRRRRRREEEEEEAAAALLLLLLYYYYY BAD passes

by northern eagle on Nov 24, 2008 8:42 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

God I hate when people say this. He’s a pocket passer who happens to be able to scramble as a last resort.

Destroyer of Subject Lines :3™

by yomjoseki on Nov 24, 2008 10:35 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

agreed

theres a huge difference between a Scrambling quarterback and a mobile quarterback. a scrambling quarterback looks at his first read and takes off (Vince Young, Michael Vick, etc.). a mobile quarterback is able to move the pocket, buy time and find open recievers down field. McNabb falls into the second category. when he came into the league he was a scrambler however he has evolved his game (something both he and andy reid never get enough credit for) to the point where his best numbers have come when he is able to stand in the pocket and throw the ball down the field

by njh3293 on Nov 24, 2008 10:54 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

he’s had alot of time. for the most part the line has given him that luxury. He’s not a great pocket passer end of argument. He throws rockets which is great but sometimes he doesn’t need to. And how many times have you seen him turf it as you curse to yourself. He was a mobile QB, they used to have such a beautiful bootleg scheme, no more. He could also scramble like a motherfucker, thats how he made defenses look foolish, not standing in the pocket. And to his defense, we have recievers who get no seperation and theres always a cloud of defenders sitting back knowing its a passing play.

by ddoubleu on Nov 25, 2008 3:32 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

kolb is not ready

i agree kolb is our future, but mcnabb is our right now. kolb is not ready yet, he is more ready than last year. we were three points down people, not thirty. mcnabb has to do better, so does the rest of the team. we are banged up, we need to get healthy. we need better calls from the coaches, we needed to spend some money on some fresh players , or bring some off the practice squad, we’ve been banged up most of this season.(we made no major moves before the deadline). we need another great wide receiver, we need a few more running backs, so when ours are injured they can do more than miss practice , they can miss a game day to heal. lets not set kolb up for injury, he’ll get his turn to be the man. now i want mcnabb and the rest of my eagles to man up

by salke on Nov 24, 2008 10:28 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

kolb sucks

i said it before but he is not a starting QB i think he is going to be a carrer backup if McNabb has to go then we need someone besides kolb

by NickPampani on Nov 24, 2008 11:07 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

you cant predict that after a half of a game.

by Joe_D on Nov 25, 2008 12:07 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

thank you!

Quit throwing Kolb under the bus, he played one half… and was actually moving the ball before the TD pass Ed Reed

an Eagles fan should be an Eagles fan during an 0-16 season

by 700 Level on Nov 25, 2008 7:21 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Kolb didn’t impress me with his arm strength or his ability to know where Ed Reed is (granted, Ed Reed is one of the best in the game) but it’s crazy to judge the Kolb era based on that half.

I think if Kolb had looked halfway competent at all, though, he’d be our starter on Thursday. Instead, I’m guessing that after one more loss we’ll see him again.

I wonder if I can bill Jeff Lurie and Peter Angelos for the years of therapy their teams are going to put me through.

by BrianS on Nov 25, 2008 9:12 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

re: quit throwing kolb under the bus

no one is throwing kolb under the bus, but let’s not throw mcnabb under the bus either. i’m a true eagle fan, even during an 0-16 season. that doesn’t make kolb ready, or mcnabb totally at faught. no one is saying kolb isn’t ready based on one half, he just isn’t ready. wow he was moving the ball, very low expectations for a qb. we were down 3 at the half, don’t you haters get it. this wasn’t the first time kolb has come in the game, nick pampani maybe right about kolb being a career back up, i haven’t made my mind up on that one yet. let’s get some more players, wr , rb, fb, etc

by salke on Nov 25, 2008 12:00 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

odd move...forced?

Has anyone considered that the benching done at the demand of Lurie?

It’s the only thing that makes sense to me. Sure McNabb was stinking up the field, but we’ve seen him even in recent games get in a groove and become productive. We were only 3 points behind, so it’s not like the game was out of hand. The season was still in the balance considering all the NFC teams at 5-5. And the manner that the QB’s were told was especially odd. It was as they were getting back on the field and Reid didn’t even talk to either player. Who knows what went on in the locker room at half, but I’m guessing there were some X’s & O’s discussed. Wouldn’t you as coach want to make sure that the guy you’re putting into the game had your complete attention. Reid has stood by McNabb time and time and time again. He’s ALWAYS been in McNabb’s corner and was never one to label anyone on his team a scapegoat. And since when does Andy ever make an in-game adjustment? NEVER! I’m guessing that Lurie made the call just as the halftime was ending. I’m guessing Reid refused to carry it out which is why he wasn’t the one to tell the players. I think that the players had to address the benching as “Reid’s decision” in the post-game press conferences either out of respect for Andy, or to avoid the debaucle of an Al Davis situation. I could be way off base, and I’m not trying to start rumors, but like I said it doesn’t make sense to me that it would be Reid’s decision given all the circumstances.

by ProEagle808 on Nov 25, 2008 5:53 AM EST reply actions 0 recs

I don’t know. Jeff Lurie and Joe Banner have a bad reputation — mainly because (like McNabb) they make usually well-meaning or innocuous comments at exactly the wrong time.

i’ve never heard that they are involved at all on game days, though.

(If you want something to get mad at LurieBanner over, I’d love to the see the Eagles suck it up and just pay back the $8M they owe the city)

I wonder if I can bill Jeff Lurie and Peter Angelos for the years of therapy their teams are going to put me through.

by BrianS on Nov 25, 2008 9:14 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Let's see what Kolb's got

Our season’s over. Time to see if Kolb can be an NFL QB. Time to evaluate what we have and what we need to throw away. See fanpost “The Season’s over, Glass half full analogy of the season” for more.

by JJinPA on Nov 25, 2008 8:49 AM EST reply actions 0 recs

I agree ProEagle, Its unlikely that Reid sits Mcnabb in a season deciding game, maybe it wasn’t his decision. Ovbiously Mcnabb is still our best shot anyway you look at it. Kolb isn’t ready to take over full time. The eagles need to pick up a receiver this off season to take the pressure off of Westbrook. Give Mcnabb one more shot on his last contract year. !!THE GUY IS USUALLY AWESOME!!

Try covering Desean Jackson, Brian Westbrook , and an unnamed veteran receiver. We all know what westy and Jackson are capable of, given the proper opportunity.

by Qu1nTeR on Nov 25, 2008 8:57 AM EST reply actions 0 recs

Well…Buck is hurt.

So now we likely need to fill both OT positions, another safety, fullback, a power running back (yeah right), see what happens with Shawn Andrews, probably draft a corner so Hanson isn’t on the field so much, get rid of Considine, get another TE.

by JGCarraway on Nov 25, 2008 10:23 AM EST reply actions 0 recs