NFL Update: Mike Shanahan and Donovan McNabb saga continues
Redskins' quarterback, Donovan McNabb is a true pro. He knows how to handle himself on and off the field. Takes whatever comes his way without whining or complaining. He should be a coach’s dream quarterback, but not if you are Mike Shanahan.
In a move that has completely baffled the football universe, Coach Mike Shanahan pulled McNabb from the field with two minutes remaining in a game that Washington could have won. But instead McNabb was pulled and Rex Grossman replaced him on the field. Grossman
replacing McNabb in the crucial stage of a game is a recipe for disaster, Washington being defeated by Detroit kind of disaster.
So, everyone was wondering why Shanahan cooked up that recipe and that’s when things got really interesting. Shanahan couldn’t really put a finger on why McNabb was pulled. Actually, he did put a finger on it but that finger found it hard to stay in one
place.
At first, Shanahan said that McNabb wasn’t ready to run Washington’s two minute offense. Maybe after carefully considering what he had said and the fact that no one would buy that the starting quarterback, who has been running the two minute offense for
almost a decade, was a poorer option than Rex Grossman, Shanahan changed his tone.
The head coach then stated that it was because of McNabb’s ‘cardiovascular endurance’ issues. He suggested that the quarterback wasn’t able to pay the physical toll of the last two minutes. That after McNabb started and almost finished the game. Shanahan
effectively said that McNabb was good for 58 minutes of professional football but not fit to play the final two.
There is something wrong about all of this. Everything that Shanahan has said contradicts either the facts or Shanahan himself. The explanation could be a lot simpler. As good as a quarterback McNabb actually is, he has good and bad days like everyone else.
He was having a bad day when Washington faced the Detroit Lions. It might simply be a case of coach replacing a player who wasn’t doing his best that day but the botched cover up that followed makes the whole thing suspicious.
Shanahan is a bit eccentric and likes to do things his own specific way. Deviate a little from that and you’d have to hear from him. His attitude to coaching has earned him respect and a bit of hostility at the same time. In just eight weeks since the season
opened, Shanahan has alienated linebacker Albert Haynesworth and now made things uncomfortable between himself and the quarterback. Shanahan could lose his locker room to this if he didn’t handle it right. Making up excuses one after the other doesn’t help
his cause.
Though, it shouldn’t be much of a problem because McNabb is such a gem of a guy. Already, he is talking of putting it all behind him. If he can help it, he would hold the locker room together. McNabb said that he wanted to focus on what he had to do during
the bye week instead. To McNabb, it’s part of his work ethics that he is proud of. Of course, he won’t be happy with what has happened and if it was anyone else, they’d be throwing a fit over it but McNabb is bigger than all of that.
McNabb has things he needs to focus on. His quarterback ratings are at their lowest since his rookie year. For 7 touchdown passes, McNabb has thrown 8 interceptions, hardly worthy of the McNabb name. That shouldn’t be construed to mean that Grossman could
ever, in any situation be a better option than McNabb. Shanahan should just bite the bullet and set the record straight. Washington can use McNabb. Donovan has said that he wants to continue playing for the Redskins. He even went so far as to say that he would
want to retire with the franchise if Shanahan keeps dishing it out the way he has been.
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