Donovan McNabb will face the Dallas Cowboys
for the fourth time in less than a year Sunday as McNabb has confirmed
he will be back from an ankle injury that cost him two weeks of the
preseason – Washington is a 3.5-point underdog on WagerWeb.com’s betting odds for Sunday night’s game.
McNabb practiced Monday for the first time in more than two weeks and looked good, reportedly showing no signs of the ankle bothering him. He admits it’s not 100 percent but that he will be on the field. He lost all three starts to Dallas as a member of the Eagles last year and wasn’t very good in the final two of those.
“Am I ready to take this offense on for Game 1 and the rest o
f the season? Absolutely. That’s something, when you learn a new scheme, learn a style of your coach, the approach and the game planning, that’s something you build over time,” he said despite missing all that practice time with his new team.
McNabb, during a radio interview, also said the Redskins need defensive tackle Albert Haynesworth, who has been buried in coach Mike Shanahan’s doghouse. Washington reportedly is talking with Tennessee about trading Haynesworth back to the Titans, but if he’s a member of the Skins he will play Sunday despite early report the team might deactivate him.
“It hasn’t become a distraction,” McNabb said of the Haynesworth situation. “The one thing that I try to do, as well as the rest of the guys, is not let it affect our locker room. Albert is a guy that’s one of our brothers in the locker room, and we want to protect him and make sure that he’s taken care of and he’s fine. Albert is a guy who understands now, he understands that, hey, I’ve got to put the time and effort in to get an opportunity to show what I can do. And he knows what he can do. We can’t win without him. He plays a major part on our defense, and everyone knows that. It’s just unfortunate what’s been going on and how everything has transpired, but that’s the game of football, and I think he’ll handle it the right way.”
Meanwhile, Dallas QB Tony Romo tends to shine in Week 1. In his first three opening day starts he has thrown eight touchdown passes to only two interceptions. In 2007, he torched the Giants for 345 yards on 15-of-24 passing for four touchdowns and one pick. In 2008 at Cleveland, he completed 24 of 32 passes for 320 yards with one TD and one interception. Last year at Tampa, he completed 16 of 27 passes for 353 yards and three touchdowns while not being picked.
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