Former Eagles quarterback Donovan McNabb says current Eagles quarterback Michael Vick needs to turn a deaf ear to criticism from fans and the media in Philadelphia if he has any hope of succeeding in his job.
McNabb said on NFL AM that if Vick allows the calls for his benching to get to him, he’s in trouble.
“I think you get in a situation where once you start hearing the boos and hearing the radio stations talk, and people on the outside begin to bring your name up of being benched, then you begin to lose focus, and now your play begins to fall and you begin to focus on other things,” McNabb said. “I think for Michael Vick, I think it's important for him to feed off of what he did last week: not turning the ball over, protect the football, give his guys an opportunity to make plays for him and good things can happen.”
McNabb said he thinks Vick is bearing the brunt of the criticism in Philadelphia, and that’s unfair.
“Start mentioning some of the defensive players that need to be benched,” McNabb said. “Maybe the offensive line needs to be benched. There’s other people that need to be in this situation besides Michael Vick.”
But as McNabb knows from first-hand experience, when the team is struggling, most of the attention will be on the quarterback.