Eagles McNabb has Cracked Rib, Doubtful for Sunday’s Game

Eagles quarterback Dononvan McNabb is doubtful for Sunday’s game against New Orleans because of a cracked rib.  McNabb sat out of practice for the third straight day Friday. Kevin Kolb took snaps with the first team and is expected to start if McNabb can’t play.

Coach Andy Reid says McNabb has been feeling better every day. Kolb would be making his first career NFL start.

McNabb was drafted second overall by the Eagles, behind first pick Tim Couch, in the 1999 NFL Draft, a choice which was famously booed by Philadelphia fans present at the draft, most of whom were pushing for their team to draft University of Texas running back Ricky Williams. McNabb was the second of five quarterbacks selected in the first 12 picks of a quarterback-rich class that was at that point considered the best quarterback draft since the famous Class of 1983. However, only McNabb and Daunte Culpepper would go on to have successful careers in the NFL (Tim Couch struggled with the Cleveland Browns and officially retired in 2007 after being cut by the Jacksonville Jaguars in a failed comeback bid while Akili Smith and Cade McNown were out of the NFL by 2002.) and by 2006 only McNabb was still with the team that originally drafted him.

McNabb saw his first NFL regular season action in the second half against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in a 19-5 home loss on September 19. He made his first career start at home against Washington on November 14, completing 8 of 21 passes for 60 yards in a 35-28 win. He also had 9 carries for 49 rushing yards and led the team to a pair of successful two-point conversions (1 rush and 1 pass). He was the first Eagles rookie to start at quarterback since Brad Goebel, and the first Eagles rookie draft pick to start since John Reaves in 1972. With the win, McNabb became the first Eagles rookie QB to win his first NFL start since Mike Boryla (December 1, 1974 against Green Bay) and the first Eagle QB to win his first start since Ty Detmer (October 13, 1996 at NYG).

McNabb threw the first TD pass of his career (6 yards to tight end Chad Lewis) vs. Indianapolis in a 44-17 home loss on November 21, 1999. McNabb went on to start six of the Eagles’ final seven contests (missing the December 19 home game against New England, a 24-9 victory, due to injury) as he became the first Philadelphia Eagles rookie to start in the quarterback position since Brad Goebel on October 13, 1991.

In his first full season as a NFL starter in 2000, McNabb finished second in the Associated Press MVP voting (24-11) to St. Louis RB Marshall Faulk, who set the NFL record for most TDs scored in a season. McNabb made his prime time debut on ESPN against Atlanta at home (October 1), with his first 300-yard passing game in a 38-10 victory and the Eagles’ first since Bobby Hoying against Cincinnati at home on November 30, 1997. McNabb’s 55 pass attempts at Pittsburgh in a come-from-behind 26-23 overtime victory (November 12) were a career high and the fourth-highest total in team history. He was named the NFC Offensive Player of the Week after accounting for 90.7% of the offense in a 23–20 victory at Washington (November 26). His 125 rushing yards were the most by an NFL Quarterback since the Bears Bobby Douglass (127 on December 17, 1972) and was the sixth-best rushing effort by a QB since 1940 when the T formation was introduced. Threw for a career-high 390 passing yards and 4 TDs in a 35-24 victory at Cleveland (December 10) en route to NFC Offensive Player of the Week honors. McNabb led the Eagles to their first playoff appearance since 1996, where they defeated the favored Tampa Bay Buccaneers 21–3 before losing to the New York Giants 20–10.

He was selected as a first alternate to the NFC Pro Bowl squad in 2000 (behind the Minnesota Vikings Daunte Culpepper, San Francisco 49ers Jeff Garcia, and St. Louis Rams Kurt Warner). When Warner was unable to participate due to injury, McNabb led the NFC on a touchdown scoring drive in his first series. Accounted for 74.6% of the team’s total net yards in 2000. Only Carolina’s Steve Beuerlein (75.3%) and San Francisco’s Jeff Garcia (75.1%) had a higher percentage. His 629 rushing yards in 2000 were tops among NFL QBs and, at the time, the fourth-highest total ever (968 by Bobby Douglass in 1972; 942 by Randall Cunningham in 1990; and 674 by Steve McNair in 1997. Michael Vick has since eclipsed that total three times). His six rushing TDs in 2000 were the most by an Eagles QB since Randall Cunningham also had six in 1988. Broke the club’s single season record for most attempts (569) and completions (330) in 2000, marks previously set by Cunningham (560 and 301 respectively) in 1988. Named 2000 NFL Player of the Year by CBS Radio and the Terry (Bradshaw) Awards on Fox Sports and was named to the All-Madden team.

McNabb led the Eagles in fourth-quarter comebacks in two wins vs. the Giants in 2001. At the Meadowlands (October 22), his 18-yard pass to James Thrash with 1:52 remaining gave the Eagles a 10-9 victory. At Philadelphia (December 30), wiped out a 21-14 deficit, engineering two fourth-quarter scores as the Eagles clinched the NFC East title with a 24-21 over archrival New York Giants. Tied Ron Jaworski and Tommy Thompson for the most postseason wins in franchise history by a QB (3). His 8-career playoff TDs trails only Jaworski (9). Named NFL Offensive Player of the Week after the NFC Divisional Playoff game at Chicago (January 19, 2002). Completed 26 of 40 for 262 yards with 2 touchdowns passing and added 37 yards and a TD on the ground. That rushing TD was the final touchdown at the old Soldier Field. Became only the fourth QB in Eagles history to pass for 3,000 yards in consecutive seasons – Sonny Jurgensen (1961-62), Ron Jaworski (1980-81), and Randall Cunningham (1988–90) were the others. McNabb’s Eagles advanced to the NFC championship game for the first time since 1980, losing to the heavily favored St. Louis Rams.

He earned his second trip to the Pro Bowl (was originally elected as an alternate) following the 2001 season after combining for 3,715 yards of total offense and establishing career highs in TD passes (25) and QB rating (84.3). Including playoffs, threw TD passes in 15 of 18 games and 2-or-more in 12 of those games. Named by his teammates as the club’s offensive MVP in 2000 and 2001. During the off-season, McNabb signed a new contract with the Eagles worth $115 million over 12 years, with a $20.5 million signing bonus.

In week 11 of the 2002 season, McNabb suffered a broken ankle. On the third play of the game against the Arizona Cardinals, he was sacked by the Cardinals’ Adrian Wilson and LeVar Woods. He fumbled the ball, fell to the ground, and held his right leg. He went to the locker room to have his ankle taped, but returned for the Eagles’ second drive. His injury was reported to be a sprained ankle, but X-rays after the game revealed that McNabb had broken his fibula in three places. During the game, however, McNabb made an impressive show of toughness. In one of the best passing games of his career, he was 20 of 25 passing, with 255 yards and 4 touchdowns. He also threw an interception. McNabb was out for the last six weeks of the regular season, and returned to face the Atlanta Falcons in the playoffs, but he recovered slowly. The Eagles defeated the Falcons 20–6, but were beaten by the underdog Tampa Bay Buccaneers 27–10 in the NFC championship game.

In late September 2003, McNabb was the subject of very controversial comments made by Rush Limbaugh, who worked as a commentator for ESPN at the time, stating that the Philadelphia Eagles quarterback was overrated because the media wanted to see a black quarterback succeed. The comments came after the Eagles began the season 0–2, losing to defending Super Bowl champion Buccaneers and eventual champion New England, both losses coming in their newly opened stadium, Lincoln Financial Field. There has been much discussion about the merit of these comments, which resulted in Limbaugh’s resignation from ESPN. Commentators pointed out that his comments were in line with his statistical performance.

Despite the slow start in the 2003 season, McNabb again led his team to the NFC Championship game – yet his detractors pointed out[citation needed] that in his five years in the NFL, McNabb had yet to complete 60 percent of his passes or average seven yards per attempt over the course of an entire season, two statistical thresholds widely accepted as benchmarks for what constitutes a successful season for a modern-day NFL quarterback. Although the slow start hindered his overall statistics for 2003, McNabb had the highest quarterback rating (97.5) in the NFL for the second half of the season and also completed over 62% of his passes for over eight yards per attempt. With Philadelphia’s 14–3 loss to the Carolina Panthers in the 2003 NFC championship game, McNabb became the first NFL quarterback since Danny White of the Dallas Cowboys (1980-1982) to lead a team to three consecutive defeats in conference title games, prompting some observers to conclude that McNabb “chokes” in big games (his cumulative passer rating in the three conference championship games was 50.5 – a figure that is approximately 10 points lower than what the worst quarterback in the league earns over the course of a typical year). McNabb was knocked out of the NFC title game after being hit on the ground by Panthers’ linebacker Will Witherspoon after he had been tripped up on a broken play.

McNabb’s defenders, however, point out that Philadelphia had the worst contingent of wide receivers in the NFL throughout McNabb’s tenure with the team up to that point, and perhaps in modern professional football history. In 2003, for example, Philadelphia’s wide receivers caught only five touchdown passes – tying the record for fewest in a season since the regular-season schedule was lengthened to its present 16 games in 1978 and that, by going the entire months of September and October without having a wide receiver catch a touchdown pass, the 2003 Eagles became the first NFL team since 1945 not to have gotten a touchdown pass from any of its wide receivers in the first two months of a season.

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