Posted at 5:04 PM ET, 12/19/2010
Jurgensen: McNabb didn't practice 100 percent
By Dan Steinberg
Enough words were uttered over about Donovan McNabb's benching since Friday to keep even a professional transcriber like myself busy for the next three or four years. But I'll pick the most interesting words I heard for now, and focus on them.
These words came from Sonny Jurgensen, and were delivered on ESPN 980's pre-game coverage. They came when Sonny was asked about the benching.
"He wasn't performing, and at practice, he'd never practice hard, and I think that had some bearing on it also," Jurgensen said. "Because Shanahan's a stickler for practice, working hard in practice so that you carry that over into the game. And he never could get him to go 100 percent in practice, and that's what he wanted. You talk to people in Philadelphia, and they say why didn't you see this coming, why are you surprised. Because the Eagles had seen it, and they traded him within the division. And so why are the people in Washington surprised?"
This didn't exactly come across as a hit campaign. Jurgensen had high praise for how McNabb handled the benching, and said he understood why McNabb would be angry. Bu still. "never could get him to go 100 percent in practice" is not a strong endorsement.
http://voices.washingtonpost.com/dcsportsbog/2010/12/jurgensen_mcnabb_didnt_practic.html