As the Eagles prepare to return to Dallas for a second game in six days against the Cowboys, quarterback Donovan McNabb has had to spend some time putting out a fire that he started by saying that the Eagles “showed our youth” during Sunday’s 24-0 loss.
McNabb denied on Tuesday that the comment was directed at guys on the team born well after November 25, 1976. “I’ve never attempted or even tried or will ever throw anyone under the bus,” McNabb told the media, via ESPN. “That’s just not me. I don’t do that. . . . These young guys are part of the reason why we’re in the position we are. They’ve made a lot of plays for us throughout the year, and they will continue to make plays for us. . . .
“It all starts with me. I have to raise my level of play. And everyone [else] has to as well.”
So what did he mean when he said that the Eagles “showed our youth”? If he was included in that assessment, then he has a strange sense of “youth,” especially in a sport where a 33-year-old quarterback is far closer to the end of this career than the beginning.
Receiver DeSean Jackson, in comments to Comcast SportsNet, seemed to give credence to the fact that McNabb’s remarks made a mini-ruckus, even though Jackson’s ass doesn’t appear to have been stung.
“We talked and, you know, it’s nothing big,” Jackson said. “We’ve just gotta keep it in house and stick together as a team and don’t let things like that break us up.”
One thing that could literally break the team up is another ugly loss to the Cowboys.
“We can’t get embarrassed like that again on Saturday night,” an unnamed veteran player told ESPN’s Sal Paolantonio, “or a lot of guys will lose their job.”
One guy who won’t lose his job is McNabb, regardless of the amount of blame he tries to take.