Oh, Donovan McNabb, maybe it’s time to pipe down about your time in Washington. Certainly the Redskins could have handled his stay here better — starting with the notion that they could get him to do something the Eagles couldn’t (like change his work habits).
But McNabb did not exactly help the Redskins. He didn’t learn the offense to their satisfaction (whispers started in training camp about his lack of progress). Both sides deserve blame here.
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Anyway, now McNabb said on ESPN’s “First Take” that Robert Griffin III wouldn’t be a good fit in Washington.
“A lot of times ego gets too involved when it comes to being in Washington,” McNabb said. “Here’s a guy coming out who’s very talented, mobile, strong-armed. We’ve already heard he’s intelligent. Football mind. Are you going to cater the offense around his talents and what he’s able to do? Or are you going to bring the Houston offense with Matt Schaub over to him and have him kind of be embedded into that?”
In other words, the offense Kyle Shanahan brought with him from Houston. McNabb listed a number of quarterbacks who have flopped under coach Mike Shanahan, such as John Beck and Rex Grossman. Tough to argue there. Jay Cutler? They were together for Cutler’s first three seasons but only posted a 17-20 record.
“Jake Plummer, a guy who had success, led them to the AFC Championship against Pittsburgh, and then [Shanahan] benched him the next year because he wouldn’t do what he wanted him to do pretty much,” McNabb said. “Brian Griese, who was supposed to be the heir apparent to John Elway and hasn’t had a lot of success.”
It was pointed out — quite often — on Twitter that McNabb left one failed quarterback off the list: himself. He admitted he — sort of — had an ax to grind with Shanahan.
“I do but I don’t. The whole deal about it is we hear so much about players who move on somewhere, how the next year will be a lot better. Give him a chance to learn the offense and understand what we do. I never got that chance. And a lot of people haven’t.”
– John Keim
