Despite an awkward on-air performance during his Hard Knocks visit to Jets training camp, Hall of Fame quarterback Joe Namath can still bring the heat.
Especially when we agree with what he’s saying.
Broadway Joe thinks that Redskins coach Mike Shanahan benched quarterback Donovan McNabb on Sunday for one simple reason -- McNabb isn’t getting it done.
“Here we are going into our seventh, eighth game, whatever, you’re telling me your quarterback doesn’t have a handle on the 2-minute offense yet, mentally?” Namath told Adam Schein during Sirius NFL Radio’s The Broadway Blitz. “OK, I can’t buy that. Secondly, the physical part of it, that’s used as an excuse. I’ll tell you what it is, Adam, they look at every snap of the season. Every snap, every play. They’re not happy with the way McNabb’s been playing. It’s that simple but they have nowhere else to go at this point.”
So what does Shanahan do with McNabb?
“I don’t think he’s the type quarterback at this stage that Shanahan wants to move forward with,” Namath said. “He’d like someone that is a little more accurate passer as well as not carrying as many injuries from over the years, the extra baggage. You get beaten up over a period of time and McNabb today certainly doesn’t move around as well as he used to and his accuracy hasn’t improved as a passer.”
Though Namath doesn’t think McNabb will be benched, Namath thinks McNabb has a chance to improve his performance.
“I would think Donovan would analyze this situation and not settle with, ‘Hey, this is the way I’ve been doing it. I’m gonna keep on doing it.’ No, you’ve got to change [to] the way the coach wants it done, a guy that has been a winner, your head coach, your boss,” Namath said. “You’ve got to do it his way or you can fight the rest of the season [and] be uncomfortable. I would think McNabb would take every bit of this and turn it into a major positive, turn around and just physically show us that he has some spring in his step. Show us that he is a vocal leader out there. Let us see some of this. . . . He’s going to have a time to think this over with this bye week and then he’s gonna have a chance to go back to work. I would see McNabb doing the right thing and going in there with the most enthusiasm he’s had since maybe he can remember.”
If it happens, it’ll be a coup for Shanahan, who has opted for tough love over kid gloves. If it doesn’t work, it’s not as if McNabb was playing all that well, anyway.