‘Schism’ Brewing in Philly … Or Just in McNabb’s Head?

Donovan McNabb was commended for personally recommending the Eagles pursue Michael Vick and give him a chance in the NFL. There was talk that the two were friends from the days McNabb hosted Vick as a recruit at Syracuse and that the two have stayed in touch ever since. While McNabb did a pretty selfless act, it appears as if the move has either backfired or that he may be regretting things. Well, that is unless the Eagles change things around. During the first half of the Eagles’ preseason game on Thursday night, McNabb complained on the sidelines that he couldn’t get in a rhythm because the team kept shuffling its offensive personnel around:

I know what we were trying to do [with Vick] and we were able to get that done. And I thought it was time for us to kind of get our offense going. After the first play when I tried to go deep to DeSean [Jackson] and threw it out of bounds a little, we started to get positive plays. We got the drive going and I think that’s very important in a game, whether it’s in the regular season or the preseason, to get that rhythm going. If you’re going to show different looks make sure it’s the right time. That’s the what the preseason’s for to make sure you know when that time is, and we’ll get that time together. I thought it was important at that time to get out and run our offense.”

There’s a couple of ways to go when you think about this. You could say that this is the beginning of McNabb getting defensive. After all, Donovan got supremely pissed when he was benched last year and had his feelings hurt; he’s very protective about his starting job. You could also say that this was a learning experience for Philly and that they’re trying to figure out when and where to work Vick in. That’s what Donovan was suggesting with that comment and also what Andy Reid wants to convey. But let me tell you, there will be at least one point this season where people are calling for Vick to be the starter for the Eagles. And judging by Donovan’s past, that will be perfect to light a fire under his ass — he always plays his best when the world is against him.