Washington Redskins: Enough with the Donovan McNabb Benching Talk

The absolutely worst thing about football is that there is a week between games. In the case of the Redskins, with an upcoming bye week, there will be two weeks.

So not only was there going to be a lot to talk about for the next two weeks after the loss to the Detroit Lions, coach Mike Shanahan felt the need to give the media and fans one more thing to discuss when he benched starting quarterback Donovan McNabb in the final two minutes of the game in favor of backup Rex Grossman.

With no timeouts remaining and less than two minutes to play, Coach Shanahan felt Grossman gave them the best chance to win.

Whether you agree or disagree, it honestly doesn't matter, as the offensive line was so terrible that the end result—after Donovan McNabb's interception with four minutes to go—was inevitable.

Now, of course, the local and national media is going nuts talking about how McNabb's chances of re-signing with the Redskins are zero.

If McNabb's benching in the final two minutes of a game that the Redskins would not have won, as well as a game that he played poorly in while getting knocked around, causes him not to re-sign with the team, then he's not the leader we thought he was.

Will McNabb's agent try to use this in negotiations? Absolutely. But I really don't think it will have any bearing on McNabb's decision to stay in DC.

And honestly, my thoughts on the move were that it was a panic move after the last couple of weeks watching McNabb struggle in the offense.

As to my thoughts on its lingering effects on the team, I think it will have zero.

McNabb will remain the starter, and maybe, just maybe, like when he was benched in Philly, he's going to come out of the gates kicking ass and taking names.

I'm sure the whole thing is still sitting sour with McNabb, and probably a lot of the guys in the locker room, but it's a certainty that Shanahan will talk with McNabb in private and then address the team.

Will it smooth things over right away? No. I'm sure it will stew until next week because they won't be on the field. But if there is one thing that cures controversy like this, it's winning.

And if the Skins come out of the bye week with a "W" and follow it up with another—and especially if McNabb plays well—then this will all be behind us.

So all the speculating needs to stop; with this new regime we are not privy to a lot of information, and to try and guess what's going on is absurd.

For any of us who have played sports before and have been benched, we know the feeling.

It sucks, and we're bitter for a while. But you get over it, and you play hard next time, and that's exactly what McNabb will do.