All the talk during the first official "mini-camp" of the year, or "OTA's", has been Donovan McNabb's dreaded shoulder tendinitis. An MRI done on "5's" shoulder revealed no damage, so whats the problem? Are we all overreacting over some shoulder tendinitis? Maybe. Although, maybe we aren't. After hearing what ESPN's Sal Palantoni had to say on Comcast Sportsnet "Daily News Live" I may have changed my mind. According to Sal, Tight End L.J Smith said a couple balls "sailed" on Donovan during the OTA's. Some writers who were present also noticed the same. Figuring it would pass after a few days, McNabb being rusty of course, he would come back at the beginning of the week and be fine. Both McNabb and the Eagles both said there was nothing to worry about. Now all of a sudden he's shut down and sent home. First off on a side note, in the age of media we live in everything is dissected a million times over, and back in the day "optional" mini-camps were never as highly publicized as they are now. So part of this whole McNabb drama is due to that, sports writers and media outlets MUST cover the OTA's, especially in Philadelphia, so they have to have something to write about. And what's better then McNabb has a busted shoulder? In this town? That's GOLD. Now I'm not accusing the writers of taking a story , overreacting, then running away with it. They have a job and they are certainly doing it. Now , back to McNabb, I understand he's the franchise and all that , but if you haven't noticed both rookie Desean Jackson and prized free agent acquisition Asante Samuel have sat out the last couple days with hamstring problems. The Eagles say they are both ok , and we and the media have seemed to take their word for it. So why can't we do the same with McNabb? Do we always believe the Eagles are this "evil empire" trying to always lie to us? Why can't we take them at their word? However, Sal made a good point , saying that Donovan doesn't want to discuss it, which is a warning sign. He may be right, if everything was alright, it's your body, it's your shoulder, wouldn't you just say everythings fine. Especially when we are still a full month away from actual training camp? In the end we are all buying into what we buy into every season. It's that Eagles drama you'll get no where else. We seriously can't live without it. As much as we bleed green , is as badly as we need this kinda drama no matter how much it may seem to torcher us as fans. Do we want to see Donovan hurt? Would we rather see Kevin Kolb? No and no. However, it's fun as hell to talk about, I mean what else is there? Are we going to discuss whether or not Jerome McDougle will be cut? Or whose going to come away with that third receiver spot? Hank Baskett? Jason Avant? Maybe Greg Lewis? C'mon, of course not. We go for the red carpet, we go for the franchise quarterback everytime. So yes, we are overreacting, it's just a little shoulder soreness people. Besides, the Eagles won't be that good anyhow, if you think so your in as much denial as the Eagle front office is. Did they improve this team in the off-season? Yes. Not enough though. Can you say without a doubt they are better then the defending Super Bowl champs? Better then the Cowboys? Then you have your answer.





Mike Santa Barbara