Despite early indications that Eagles quarterback Donovan McNabb isn’t happy with the arrival of Mike Vick in Philly, McNabb claims that he’s fine with the move.
In fact, McNabb claims he lobbied the team to sign Vick.
“There’s no threat for me,” McNabb said at a press conference after Thursday night’s preseason game. “There’s no threat for [Kevin] Kolb. It’s an opportunity to add another weapon to our offense, and our team.”
Still, McNabb used words like “adversity” and “ordeal” when talking about the presence of Vick on the team, which in our view weren’t used accidentally.
Indeed, former Eagles lineman Barrett Brooks, who serves as the Eagles Insider for The Sports Bash with Mike Gill on 97.3 FM in South Jersey, believes that the arrival of Vick will lead to trouble in the locker room.
“McNabb is being a pro,” Brooks said (via Gill), “but this makes him have to put up or shut up. He has no comfort in being the Eagles quarterback, if he messes up one time the whole city will be calling for Vick. Point blank.”
Also, even if Vick never gets onto the field, Vick suddenly will command more attention than the starting quarterback.
“Why does McNabb have to have a backup who has more exposure than the starter?” Brooks said.
That said, McNabb has handled the media adroitly, so far. Then again, he always does.
What happens behind the scenes remains to be seen.