The date was June 10, 2004. Ironically, it was four years ago to the date when the Eagles did the same thing to Donovan McNabb that they are doing now. They shut him down. It was the final day of that spring's Passing Camp. McNabb had a case of tendinitis in his shoulder, and as a precautionary measure, the Eagles' excellent athletic training staff kept McNabb out of practice and pointed toward training camp.
This is the same thing. The time is diferent and the circumstances are different and certainly there is a lot more attention directed toward McNabb's shoulder, but the move is the same in its nature: To make sure McNabb is 100 percent healthy for training camp.
Andy Reid will touch on the subject with more knowledge and more detail after today's practice, but I know how you are: You are going to leap to conclusions. You are going to panic, if only a little bit.
No need.
Sure, I want McNabb on the field. And I honestly think that if push came to shove and McNabb needed to be out there, he could go out and play and throw the ball very well. But this isn't the time to force things. This is the time to make sure a player who has been in the league as long as McNabb has been in the NFL gets himself right for the season.
Now, the natural question is what this means down the line for McNabb. Nothing at all is the answer, if the shoulder tendonitis responds to treatment. History says McNabb will be fine in five weeks, when training camp arrives.
But it something the Eagles will monitor very closely. They want McNabb ready to go on July 22 when rookies and selected veterans practice. They want him out there for two-a-day practices leading up to the September 7 opener against the Rams, and they want him razor-sharp for the start of the season.
In the meantime, though, Kevin Kolb gets an opportunity to work with the first-team offense for an entire week. That benefits him greatly. He is only going to improve with each rep.
The point is that McNabb's shoulder discomfort has an origin, and that the Eagles are doing the smart thing here. Nobody is mad with panic around here, but I understand the nature of the fans and the immediate reaction is to worry a little bit. I don't think there is a need to do that, because the Eagles are on top of this and, besides, they've dealt with this before and McNabb rebounded beautifully in 2004, right?
What it means is that McNabb isn't likely to have a lot of down time between now and July 22 Unless, of course, if rest is the proper route to take. Otherwise, McNabb would spend a lot of time with Rick Burkholder and his staff in the athletic training room of the NovaCare Complex.
The good news is that the Eagles know the proper course of action and that they have been through this many times before with many different players ove the years. This is nothing close to a long-term injury, or even a long-term concern.
Remember the case history here: Three years ago, to the day, the Eagles did the same thing with McNabb. He went on to have a Pro Bowl season and then take the Eagles to the Super Bowl. Let's hope history repeats itself, plus one more win.
McNabb is going to be on the field at Lehigh University, and he's going to be fine. For the next three days, we get to see more of Kolb, which is not a bad thing. It's always fun to see a young quarterback grow with the additional practice repetitions.
