"I didn't say that," an exasperated McNabb said after a game right out of his 2002 highlight reel. "I don't feel that way. I've said I want to be here eight more, nine more years. If that's possible, we'll see."
McNabb said Oliver's comments were conclusions she drew, not anything he said himself. But it isn't hard to see how she might have reached those conclusions since, within moments, McNabb was laughing and rolling his eyes at a question about whether he felt he would be welcomed back in Philadelphia in 2008.
"I don't know, are you going to welcome me?" McNabb said.
Yesterday's win accomplished at least one thing. It put to rest any idea that rookie Kevin Kolb should or could start in New Orleans this Sunday. The Eagles are mathematically alive for a playoff berth and that means McNabb continues to play.
"I don't even want to say the word 'playoffs,' " McNabb said. "We just want to win these last three games and see where we stand. All I'm thinking about is going and coming out with a win in New Orleans."
If he plays the way he did against the Cowboys, the Eagles will have a chance. That will mean no more than a .500 record, hardly anything to brag about. But it will also mean that McNabb finishes this season playing more like the quarterback he was before the knee injury that ended his 2006 season.
"Donovan played a fantastic game today," running back Brian Westbrook said. "He ran the ball well and he threw it well in the clutch. That's who he is, a clutch performer. Our running game wasn't where we needed it to be all day and he carried us."
It wasn't easy, either. At one point in the fourth quarter, Fox posted a graphic showing that McNabb dropped back to pass 42 times. He was sacked four times, hit 11 times and hurried 17 times. Still, he managed to hang in, move the team effectively most of the game and make some key throws when he absolutely had to.
