Right right, it’s June 9, and we hate to overreact, but still — this is straight from Spuds hisownself:

The Eagles, coincidentally enough, spent a portion of Monday’s practice working against the Giants offensive and defensive schemes, and it was Kevin Kolb, not McNabb, who took many of the reps at quarterback.

That led to speculation that McNabb’s arm is hurting. McNabb was asked after practice if he is concerned about his arm.

“No,” he said. “I know it will get better.”

Exactly what “it” is was not made clear. McNabb didn’t want to answer questions on the subject, but he did answer when asked if he expected more or fewer practice reps for the remainder of this camp, which lasts through Thursday.

“We’ll see. We’ll see,” said McNabb. “We’re just taking it slow.”

Um, what exactly are we taking slow again?  Are we broken already, in a heretofore unbroken realm of our frequently broken body?  Also, how long is Soviet Central Media going to pretend that everything is totally cool, nothing to see here?  Not much longer, it seems, if Spuds is publishing stories like this.

This is me gritting my teeth and pretending to be more excited about the Phillies (I’m not unexcited, but it just isn’t the same). 

And here I thought I’d have nothing to post about all week, save for additional copy-edits on philadelphiaeagles.com. Au contraire! The Birds have gifted us with a Donovan McNabb photo shoot/ caption contest!  Or, more succinctly, “a photo shoot for Getty Images which gives fans a behind-the-scenes look into the quarterback’s life on and off the field through the eyes of photographer Al Bello.”

Oh, this is rich.  Donovan chillin at home, showing us what it’s like to have a photo shoot.  And to check your facebook profile.  Donovan is actually throwing sheep at Brian Westbrook at this exact moment.  Also, what the hell is that wire doing plugged into his laptop?  Does he need $29.95 for a shiny new Linksys router? 

(Please don’t forget to tip your waitress; more photos after the jump.)

(Read the rest of this story.)

Aw dude, seriously? We’re rocking the t-shirts with the slogans again? Do you realize how alternately cheesy and psychotic this makes you seem? You’re 31 years old. You’re not 17. It’s no longer acceptable to wear t-shirts emblazoned with inspirational messages.

(This one read: “If you prepare to be the best in everything you do in life, you will receive great results.  But if you are just satisfied with mediocrity, that’s what you will be.”  Did he actually buy this somewhere or did he do a custom one-off?  Dude.)

And we’re not going to comment on the “W.W.J.D.” bracelet he was sporting on the freakin’ field.

In all fairness, I’ve penned something of a screed on this topic a few years ago (complete with Randall Cunningham references). Full text after the jump.
(Read the rest of this story.)

Donovan McNabb is scheduled to speak to reporters as part of the Eagles’ post-draft minicamp today. I’ve been able to get an advance copy of the transcript:

Donovan, you said earlier in the off-season that you thought that the team needed to bring in “playmakers.” Do you feel that the team has done that?

Well, I said that I thought that we needed to bring in playmakers in all phases of the game: offense, defense, and special teams. Obviuosly with the addition of Asante Samuel we have a proven playmaker, and Chris Clemons as well. We also made some acquisitions of guys who can help us on special teams. I also think some of the young guys we brought in in the draft and by trade, like Lorenzo Booker, have a chance to make a difference. So we’re very excited about the team.

Donovan, do you still think that the team needs to go out and get a true number-one wide receiver?

We have some great receivers on this team in Kevin Curtis and Reggie Brown and Jason Avant and Hank Baskett. We brought in a guy like DeSean Jackson to add to that. We also have L.J. healthy. I think we have a great group of receivers.
(Read the rest of this story.)

While Donovan McNabb has made no secret of his post-football TV blathermonkey ambitions (and we think he’d actually be pretty decent at it — he’s a sharp guy, decent sense of humor, watches a lot of sports), and while we tend to support his direct-to-consumer PR strategy on Yardbarker, we’re going to have to snicker a bit at his latest blog entry.

Is it cool that he has opinions about college hoops and the street cred (he played hoops at Syracuse his freshman year — JUST IN CASE YOU HADN’T HEARD THAT MILLION TIMES ALREADY) to back them up?  You betcha.  Does said street cred excuse the train wreck of cliches that he stuffed into that blog post?  Not even a little bit.    (Read the rest of this story.)

I know I’m desperate for Eagles news when my eyebrows arch reading a complete nothing comment like the following:

Reid and Donovan McNabb talked after the season, and a source close to Reid said that the two were on the same page as far as each man’s approach to the off-season. It’s still possible that the rumblings will turn out to be true and McNabb will try to talk his way out of town. But for now, despite his recent blog entry about the Eagles’ need for more playmakers, McNabb has yet to seriously commence that process. Unless he does, or unless some team offers something exorbitant for him - say, three first-round draft picks - McNabb will be back for the 2008 season. He will be the starter.

I, for one, am glad that they’re both on the same page as far as each man’s approach to the off-season.  Does that mean Andy Reid will be spending more time on the Internets (he’s heard good things about the Facebook) and Dunavin will gain 175 pounds and go to rehab with his daughter? 

Yup, that’s all I gots for ya.

Link:
Eagles can handle the loss of Harbaugh [Inqy]

I guess I’m not the only one who wants to be sure that Donovan McNabb keeps his blog posts/ invitations to hullaballoo(s) to a minimum this offseason — even Official Corporate PR Blathermonkey Dave Spadaro is begging for calm and quiet.

In a rather fluffy and otherwise fresh-content-free post on the Birds site yesterday, Spuds had the following to say in re: Dunavin:

Having a great mental off-season is just as important as having a great physical off-season for McNabb. My advice to him — not that he’s asking — is to lay low and work hard and enjoy the injury-free months. We’ve already seen, as evidenced by his most recent blog entry, that every word McNabb utters is going to be front-page news. McNabb should just enjoy the tranquility and the good health and have himself a drama-free off-season.
(Read the rest of this story.)

In a sense, I’m shocked it took this long for someone in the McNabb camp to commit a PR faux pas. I mean, it’d been a whole week since the season ended; the employees of WIP need to eat too! 

To recap in case you haven’t been following closely (and it’s easiest to just review the excellent summary that Derek posted on Iggles Blog): two weeks before the regular season ended, a blathermonkey asked Dunavin if he thought that the Eagles needed to add more players in the offseason. Dunavin went to great lengths to give a very PC answer: that the Eagles needed to add playmakers in all phases of the game.

In response to follow-up questions, he did NOT say that he needed a wide receiver (and even chided the blathermonkey who asked the question for trying to draw him into a trap — yes, this is actually the state of things if you’re Dunavin: you have a jokey relationship with the jackals who are trying to goad you into a headline-worthy quote). He just said that the Eagles could be better if they had a couple more playmakers. Uh huh.

This sentiment was relayed to Andy Reid in a separate press conference, and Andy Reid scolded Dunavin for indirectly insulting his teammates. This was a little silly in itself (since Dunavin didn’t really say anything too crazy), but whatever. You’d think that this wasn’t such a big deal.

You’d think. (Read the rest of this story.)

Very out-of-character slip from Andy Reid in his Monday press conference. In responding to a question about Donovan McNabb’s evolving mobility over the course of the season, he admitted that (a) he knew that McNabb was significantly less than full speed when the season kicked off and (b) he was semi-happy to have McNabb struggle in order to become a better player in the long run. Huh? Really?

According to Big Red,

“I think it was a great experience for him to have all mobility taken away early. Where, in his mind, he had to become an in-pocket passer. He didn’t have 100 percent of his capacity to run. For somebody in his ninth year to have a chance to be even better than he was is a great thing. Now he’s getting the mobility back and he’s becoming an even better thrower than he was before-and I think he was pretty good before.”

So it was good for him to be limited (even if it meant that the team suffered) so that he could become a better player? Did the rest of the team agree with that? (Read the rest of this story.)

For the record, I definitely resisted the urge to go down this route earlier in the week. But thanks to the proud efforts of Ashley Fox, the door is open for what would have otherwise been a semi-innappropriate path of speculation in re: Embattled Eagles Quarterback Donovan McNabb.

I’m referring to Ashley Fox’s piece in this morning’s Inky, in which Mlle. Fox describes the unique challenges of being a female sports reporter (beyond gaining lots of weight and breathing through your mouth like the men):

Now, as a female reporting on sports, the issue gets even trickier. Men, be it athletes or executives, often tell us different things - and tell us things differently - than they tell other men. They can be more willing to show their emotions or to let their guard down because they aren’t threatened by a woman. Sometimes they think a woman is more sympathetic or less judgmental.

And sometimes, they have other motives.

What’s that you say? OTHER MOTIVES? You mean, like, um, that the boys on the team might, um, you know, want, to, you know, get witcha?

For the record, in re: Dunavin’s most recent “controversy,” other motives would be about the most awesome possible thing I could imagine happening. (Read the rest of this story.)