Posted on 09/13/2005 3:15:21 PM PDT by mainepatsfan
McNabb has chest bruise, status to be determined By Len Pasquarelli ESPN.com
A battery of tests performed on Tuesday morning confirmed Philadelphia quarterback Donovan McNabb suffered a bruised chest in the Monday night loss at Atlanta, and the availability of the Eagles' star for this week likely will be determined by how he responds in the next few days.
Coach Andy Reid said McNabb had undergone an MRI, CT scan and X-rays and that all of the tests indicated the bruised chest. There may be further tests in coming days. The Eagles play San Francisco on Sunday at Lincoln Financial Field.
"We knew he was hurting," Reid said of McNabb. "It wasn't nearly as bad last night as it was this morning. Obviously, it tightened up on him. But he felt comfortable playing. He never said a word about it."
Reid said that, in cases of chest injuries, the Eagles take "extra precautions" in evaluating the injury and doing follow-up testing. League rules stipulate that the Eagles don't have to officially update McNabb's injury status until Wednesday.
McNabb was injured on the Eagles' first possession of the game on a play in which he was hit on his left side by Falcons defensive end Brady Smith and in his chest by tackle Chad Lavalais. His deep pass up the left sideline, intended for Terrell Owens, clearly was affected by the impact, and was intercepted by D'Angelo Hall.
When he went to the sideline, McNabb removed his pads, did some stretching and was examined by the team's medical staff. He returned on the next series.
Under heavy pressure all evening, as the Falcons generally played an eight-man front and blitzed him liberally, McNabb absorbed a fierce beating. He completed 24 of 45 passes for 257 yards and one touchdown, but had three turnovers and registered just one run rush, for no yards.
Reid acknowledged there was far too much pressure on McNabb and allowed that the injury may have played a role in the quarterback's seeming reluctance to run.
"He was in a little bit of pain," Reid said. "I don't know if that had any affect on his decisions to run or not run. It didn't look like there was a lot of room to run, [but] the injury might have affected it."
Before I get slammed, I drafted McNabb twice and played him last night. But I knew that there would be an excuse for last night. And he didnt even play that bad! Why wont the media just let him alone and let him play..??
That might explain why he wasn't scrambling for crap. Except for Westbrook the Eagles offense was all around so-so last night. And the defense didn't do a good job of maintaining lane discipline, which is the key to shutting down Vick (which they helped prove in the NFC championship).
Trotter's loss was evident in the run blocking department..
That and they blew coverage on one big pass play.
As much as this pains me to say, (I am a Cowboys fan) I have liked McNabb since his days at Syracuse. Last night he did not look like his normal self after he took that shot to the ribs. He seemed reluctant to leave the pocket, and it killed him. His protection was horrible last night. He took way too many hits. On the other hand.... Dallas is 1-0, and Philly is 0-1!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Im just pleased that the Skins are 1-0 and the Eagles are 0-1. Of course, the Cowboys and Giants are 1-0, too..
The one guy whose name we didn't hear very often was Owens.
The Eagles dropped their first two games in 2003 and they still wound up winning the division.
That one was a classic example of the run being the pass' best friend, the safeties bit HARD on the play action and the next thing they knew the ball was flying over their heads to an eligible receiver.
I don't understand why a penalty was not called for the defense guy who purposely burried his helmet into McNab's solar plexus. It was clear in the replay.
Hill was all over him, awesome converage almost the whole night. And when the coverage wasn't awesome either the ribs or lack of talking screwed up the throw.
"The one guy whose name we didn't hear very often was Owens."
Owens made some catches, but he did not have a great impact on the game. Atlanta's scheme was great in the way they handled the idiot. It was nice to see Owens basicaly shut down. I didn't have to see him run his souphole!!!
Helmet to ribs isn't a foul (unless it's well after the pass or the player is down, then it's roughing regardless of where the helmet hits). Helmet to helmet is a foul, if helmet to ribs was a foul too they'd have to switch to flag football, the helmet has to go somewhere in a diving tackle.
The play action only works if the defense is worried about the run.
A ray of hope for the 49ers this Sunday?
Hall had a great game. Just slowing Owens down can really hurt the Philly offense.
From the way he was talking you'd have thought he was going to catch two or three touchdowns last night. The Falcons had other plans.
Something pass whacky coaches like Reid and Martz need to learn. Few things in the NFL are as pathetically funny as watching a team that's attempted a pass on the last 12 plays do a play action, even the mascot on the sideline doesn't get fooled.
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