Washington Redskins’ QB Donovan McNabb Could Miss Opening Game, But Don’t Bet On It

Added on Aug 30, 2010 by Jack Thurman in

NFL

One of the more enduring traditions of the first week of the NFL regular season is coaching gamesmanship regarding the starting quarterback. Some coaches try to gain a psychological or tactical advantage by keeping the identity of the starting quarterback a secret until as close to gametime as possible. Cleveland Browns’ head coach Eric Mangini took this concept to ridiculous lengths at the start of the 2009 season, not naming the starting quarterback at all. While the idea was, presumably, that one guy would walk out on the field and minds would be blown it didn’t quite work out that way. The media got wind of the starting quarterback well before game time. In any case, the Browns’ opening game opponent, the Minnesota Vikings, was nonplussed and easily won and covered the game.

Now first year Washington Redskins coach Mike Shanahan is trying to do the same thing with his starting quarterback, Donovan McNabb. McNabb left the Redskins’ second preseason game with a sprained ankle and sat out Friday’s preseason victory over the New York Jets. He won’t play in the Redskins’ final exhibition contest against the Arizona Cardinals, and hasn’t been practicing with the team. Until this past weekend, however, it was assumed that he’d be under center when the Redskins start their 2010 regular season campaign at home against the Dallas Cowboys. That was before Shanahan tried to go ‘these aren’t the droids you’re looking for’ with McNabb’s status:

“I really don’t know for sure. That’s why it’s day by day. We’ll see how it goes.”

McNabb’s official status on the NFL injury report is ‘questionable’ for the Dallas game, but with the intense history between the Dallas Cowboys and the Redskins, it’s all but certain that if McNabb will play in the game. It may to Washington’s advantage to make McNabb’s injury sound worse than it may be in hopes that Dallas will devote practice time to preparing for the more traditional quarterbacking style of his backup Rex Grossman. The fact that McNabb won’t play in the team’s final preseason game means little, as Shanahan historically sits his starters in this spot anyway.

It’s worth noting that there’s been little if any line movement since Shanahan floated the ‘McNabb might not play’ balloon. The game is still at Dallas -3’ most places and while there’s a few 4’s and a couple of 5’s out there moves between key numbers are increasingly common in pro football and not very significant. The total remains at 40 or 40’.

Long story short, if you like this game don’t let the McNabb status dissuade you from betting it. He’s almost certain to play despite Shanahan’s smoke and mirrors routine.