No analyst has watched more games of Donovan McNabb than ESPN’s Ron Jaworski, who will be in town for Monday night’s game vs. the Eagles. He’s always been a big fan of McNabb and remains so, despite his struggles this season. But Jaworski, in a conference call Thursday, said it’s not all McNabb’s fault. He also said he’s not sure why McNabb was benched vs. Detroit.
Jaworski on:
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Donovan in the two-minute offense: “If you look at the history of Donovan, he’s been inconsistent in that period of time. There have been times when he’s run the two-minute offense brilliantly and times when it’s been sketchy. I look at the physical attributes a quarterback has to have during that period. A couple things always jump out [that you need to have]. A strong arm, in that situation, you can’t dink and dunk down the field. I always felt a strong arm was critical to success in the two-minute drill and I think mobility is important as well. That’s a time when the defensive linemen are kicking their heels back and force you to move around. They know where you’re going to be and that’s where they’re going to attack. So a quarterback has to be able to move around in the pocket. That’s why it was surprising when he was taken out. During the course of the game, he’s under duress almost the entire game.”
On Shanahan’s decision: “It’s a head scratcher. I’m sitting here right now in the third quarter of that Detroit-Washington game for the second time and I’m still trying to find something that would have hinted a change was going to be made and quite honestly I still can’t find anything….Certainly I thought Donovan was doing all he could have done in the situation and during the game and under the duress he was under. The offensive line wasn’t blocking well and they weren’t running consistently and the receivers weren’t catching the ball. That’s why it’s a head scratcher. You’re 4-3 and have a chance to go to 5-3 and you would choose that time to bench a quarterback? I can’t find any rhyme or reason why they made that decision.”
On how tough it is to pick up a two-minute offense: “Every quarterback loves to run the two-minute drill. Every quarterback looks forward to that. That is the one time where you get a chance to call the plays and run the offense. Yeah, you still have the microphone system in your ear. But it really is your time to take charge of the offense. These plays are scripted. You practice through the week and you talk to the coordinator about what you want to run and in the two-minute, you get predictable coverage. It’s not as difficult as people make it out to be. You have plays you’re gonna run and you run those plays…. The ball is his now and he has to run the offense. Through the game you get different formations sent in and the coach is calling every play. But in the two-minute drill, it’s yours. You take ownership. Any quarterback worth his salt relishes that.”
On if he can tell a difference between a guy who is struggling to learn a system vs. a guy who is growing in the system: “I really can’t by watching tape. I can only give you my personal experiences. I found some of the comments interesting reading the accounts of what happened last week, the playbook being limited. To me that’s normal operating procedure. I played for four different teams and after 10 years I’m with the Eagles and then I go to the Miami Dolphins and Dan Marino is the quarterback. I had to learn a whole new system, an entire new verbal way to communicate the plays. There were almost two game plans [one for him and one for Marino]. Fortunately Dan never came out. My version of the game plan was different than Dan’s. I wasn’t familiar with that offense. I didn’t have the whole game plan at my disposal. It takes years to learn the nuances of an offense. The fact that it’s scaled down doesn’t surprise me at all. That’s what an astute coach would do. You have to get a feel for how he’s learning it and add as things go one. I’m surprised those comments made it in a negative manner. I look at that in a positive manner. Let’s spoon feed this guy the system.”
On how different a play can be called in two systems: “I’m in Philadelphia and we call the play, let’s go Red Right Firm 866 Flat Check. I go to Miami and the call would be, 2 Flip 60 Texas. Same exact play. I would call 60 Texas in Miami and in my mind I’m thinking in Philly it’s 866. It’s like learning another language. Until you learn the ABCs, you don’t put words together. … Sometimes [it takes more than a year] and that’s just learning how to call the play let alone execute it. Spoon feed as much as the quarterback can take before moving on to the next step.”
On how he learned it: “By rote memory. You write it, you draw it, you loook at tape, you practice it and by repetition it becomes second nature to you. Now you understand your plays, now you have to put it up against your defense. I’m sure the adjustments on a route are different. What are the route adjustments to a roll corner to a linebacker buzz. Maybe on a roll corner that out-route is a fade in Philly and all a sudden that roll corner becomes a Burst 6 vs. a combination in Washington. Everything changes the minute the ball is snapped. That’s when you become instinctive as a quarterback. I saw in Detroit Donovan threw a fade and Moss runs a hook. It’s the little things that are off, the little adjustments that take place, those things take time. Sometimes they take years.”
On how he would grade Donovan so far: “I said this early in the year, I thought his game against Houston was the best game I saw him play in his career. That’s how well he played in that game. There have been uneven games, but you have to look at the whole body of this offense right now. They have some issues. Obviously the quarterback gets too much credit when it goes well and two much blame when it goes poorly. The offensive line has really struggled. There is too much quick pressure on the quarterback. When he ahs the time in the pocket, and they have max protection, he’s been able to execute those plays almost flawlessly. Too many times there is quick pressure; too many times receivers are dropping balls and there are too many known situations for the defense when they can get after the quarterback. When the protection is there, he has operated this offense well. When there’s pressure, that’s when mistakes have been made.
On if he thinks McNabb will return here next year: “They thought they had their quarterback; I thought they had their quarterback. I thought Donovan was a perfect fit for the style of offense they wanted to run, but it looks like what has transpired in recent times: his contract still in the final year and it doesn’t appear anything has happened on that front; he was yanked from the game in the two-minute vs. Detroit. None of those are positive. My feeling is, although there’s a dearth of quarterbacks in the NFL right now, my gut tells me Donovan might be somewhere else right now.”
On if losing him is a risk: “It’s a tremendous risk. When you have a quarterback that has performed at a high level for 12 years and you decide he’s no longer your guy, you can’t dial up 1-800 quarterback. They’re just not out there. I’m not sure there’s a dozen guys in this league that give you consistent play over the course of the season. And when you look behind Donovan, you have two journeymen guys. If you go through the draft process, now you’re looking two or three years down the road. A lot of teams don’t want to go through that rebuilding process. My instincts say, Let’s make peace and move this thing forward. Donovan is still a talented player.”
On if there are things the Redskins could take from McNabb’s Philly days to run in the second half: “Not really. I think I see a lot of the same schematic things Andy used, some max stuff, some moving outside the pocket. Mike’s foundation is a lot of the bootleg things and getting the quarterback outside and getting those big plays. Andy did a lot of the same things. I see a lot of the same things that Donovan executed in Philadelphia being done in Washington. This receiving corps in Washington has to step up and play better. It’s an area that needs to improve because there are opportunities with Donovan’s arm to get more explosive.”
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