It has been a relatively quiet offseason for quarterback Donovan McNabb.

A year ago at this time, the Eagles selected another quarterback, Kevin Kolb, in the second round of the NFL Draft. McNabb was constantly giving updates on the status of his rehabbed knee.

With his immediate future as an Eagle secured, combined with some key additions, McNabb is feeling optimistic for 2008 and beyond.

QB Donovan McNabb

With another offseason removed from the 2006 ACL injury and an impressive finish to the 2007 season – he had five touchdown passes against only one interception and a 345-yard performance against Buffalo as the Eagles won their final three games – McNabb hopes to build off of the success at the end of last year.

"The rest in the offseason and rehabbing in this offseason and strengthening the knee the way it's supposed to be and paying more attention to it is definitely helping," said McNabb. "Last year, there were big strides and I got comfortable as the season went on and I was able to do a lot of things that I was used to doing. This year's going to be a lot different and I look to do some great things."

McNabb's spirits were high, he kidded around with reporters and teammates in the locker room and auditorium. To emphasize how he felt, McNabb explicitly repeated, "I feel great" in regards to his physical condition and joked about how his body was voted the sexiest. The hijinks went until the very end of the press conference when he quipped, "I'm pretty hot right now."

McNabb has good reason to be in such a jovial mood. The Eagles added dynamic receiver/returner DeSean Jackson in the draft. Jackson's presence should help the receivers that are back from last season.

"I think Reggie (Brown) can be a great player and I expect him to have a great year this year," McNabb said. "It's incumbent on us as a unit and as a team to make sure that we give him that opportunity to do that. I feel that later in the year (2007) we began to do that and he stepped up and made big plays for us. That goes for all our guys, you have to give them opportunities to make plays for you."

At the end of last season, McNabb lobbied for the Eagles to add more playmakers. What people assumed was that he wanted a proven wide receiver. That's not the case. McNabb wanted pieces that would improve the overall team – whether it was offense, defense or special teams. When it comes to his receivers, McNabb just has to look at the stat sheet to see what was accomplished last season.

"The guys we have here made plays for us last year. I think people forget that people like Kevin Curtis had over 1,000 yards receiving. That's the second time that that's happened since I've been here," said McNabb. "We showed signs in our passing game and we just have to be consistent. I said playmakers, I didn't say receivers. I said guys that can come in and make plays for us. We brought in Asante (Samuel) who led the league in interceptions two years ago, and last year had a lot of interceptions as well. That was a start. We had a draft class, and we can't ask those guys to come in and make a thousand plays for us, but just to make as many plays as they can, and for the veterans to step up their game a little bit and elevate it to the right level to make sure we make plays as well."

McNabb said that even when there was an injury to rehab from or speculation about whether he would be traded, he was always at peace. With the optimism in place right now, the 2008 season is no exception thus far.