Donovan McNabb, Former Philadelphia Eagles Quarterback

How's your mental health?

I'm listening with Alanis Morissette. When it first started, I would have my nightly panic attacks, but then I started getting really curious about all the sensations. Like, I just really started looking at, okay, so chest is, you know, I got really kind of granular and observing the details of what was really going on with the breath. It's just survival strategy. It's cortisol cooking non-stop. You know, chronic stress is trauma. More at i'mlistening.org. Talk saves lives. How's your mental health?

I'm listening with Alanis Morissette. When it first started, I would have my nightly panic attacks, but then I started getting really curious about all the sensations. Like, I just really started looking at, okay, so chest is, you know, I got really kind of granular and observing the details of what was really going on with the breath. It's just survival strategy. It's cortisol cooking non-stop. You know, chronic stress is trauma. More at i'mlistening.org.

Talk saves lives. And we're coming to you live from the Rocket Mortgage studios. Whether you're looking to purchase a new home or refinance yours, Rocket Mortgage can help you get there for home loan solutions that fit your life.

Well, Rocket candidates. This is that Gelb show coast to coast on CBS Sports Radio. Let's welcome back a good friend to the show. He was a quarterback for a bunch of years in the NFL with the Eagles.

Washington, also Minnesota, made the Pro Bowl six times and is in the Eagles Hall of Fame. And that's number five, Donovan McNabb. Donovan, how you been? I'm doing outstanding. How's it going over there?

Well, I'm doing great. Can't complain. And we got a big matchup this weekend. Eagles and commanders. We're getting week three set coming up tonight with the Steelers and the Browns.

So all is good. A lot of excitement with the Eagles right now. As you know, Donovan, what have been your impression so far in Jalen Hurts?

You know what? I've enjoyed every bit of just the team effort. You go from the very first game, I thought defensively we weren't as sound as we needed to be. We couldn't stop the run.

The play action game started to kill us in the second half. Offensively, I thought they carried the load by, you know, Devontae not really being as involved as he was in the second game. But then AJ Brown stepped up and had a big game. Obviously, Jalen Hurts was consistent. He was accurate.

He was moving the chains. I thought Miles Sanders kind of closed the deal at the end by running the football effectively. I thought our second game was one that opened up a lot of eyes for a lot of the naysayers on the outside because we've seen a total team effort on the offensive end of being able to pass the ball, play action, quarterback runs to the running game. I've seen every facet of the game be very effective for us on offense and defensively. It was the defense I expected. I thought Slade played well.

Brad and Barry played well. I thought our linebackers flowed and was able to neutralize Dalvin Cook, in which we got pressure on Kirk Cousins as well with our blitzes. When you evaluate Jalen Hurts, and you know it in this league, you either have the quarterback or you don't, do you think the Eagles have their franchise quarterback? I've said it since he was drafted in the second round.

I said he was the grown man in the room when Carson Wentz was there. I thought people need to really look at his experience and how we got to this position. Going to Alabama and learning that offense and leading them to national championships and then leaving after he finished at Alabama and being a graduate transfer to go to Lincoln Riley, the quarterback guru that everyone kind of labeled as, and leading his team to a BCS championship berth, having the opportunity playing in the playoffs and being a Heisman Trophy candidate, showing that he can throw the football. Coming into the NFL, there was not that much pressure on him because he was able to learn three different offenses.

I say three because you had Lane Kiffin and Sarkeesian over there in Alabama and then going to Lincoln Riley. Coming to Philadelphia was another step for him, and a challenge. We're seeing him being able to put the pressure on his shoulders and be able to move forward with his head high. When it comes to the step that he's taken this year, and so far he's taken a big leap, and this was a team that was in the playoffs a year ago. Donovan McNabb, my expectations before the year were the Eagles were going to win this division.

Can they do more than that? Do you think this team has the looks early on of a Super Bowl contender? I wouldn't so-called say Super Bowl right now. I think they'll be a strong NFC East contender of being able to win the NFC East. I'm looking forward to them possibly making it and advancing to the second round. At that particular point, as a player, you know that you need a little bit of luck and an extra push to be able to get you over the hump, but I definitely see us as a playoff team, a team that will be up and a little up and down during a regular season. So what we're seeing now, there will be some highs and there'll be some lows, but I think we're strong enough from an experience standpoint from the players to be able to overcome a lot of adversities that they'll face this year. Talking to Donovan McNabb right now on the Zach Gelb show, I've given a lot of praise then a lot of criticism as well throughout the years to Howie Roseman. It's time to really throw some flowers his way because I love the way that he constructed this team. And also Donovan, there's one thing for a team to say, that's our guy, that's our franchise quarterback, and then you have to show it with actions by getting him big-time players like an A.J.

Brown. I love the way that Howie attacked this offseason. I don't know about that so-called. I mean, I love how everyone's giving him credit and I give credit as well to Howie, but that doesn't automatically mean that he's, you know, kind of labeling Jalen as a franchise quarterback. No one has ever said that and we're all saying that, but we haven't heard them say that. You can bring in talented weapons on the outside to say that, you know, if it works, then it's like, yeah, he's our guy, but if it doesn't work, then they say we're going to go get our guy because we have all the pieces in place. And that's the way organizations work and that's what the NFL is about, that's what all professional sports is about, is that it's their job to bring in the best players as the key positions and for the ones that you may not feel confident with, you think that helps them going forward and if it doesn't work, then they'll go get someone because they're already with finished products everywhere else.

So I just want to hear them say that and hear the people in Philadelphia and everywhere else say that. I say that, I believe that, you believe that, but we have to hear that because we can say the same thing about Baltimore and everyone knowing that Lamar Jackson is a franchise quarterback, but you got to pay him like a franchise quarterback. Donovan McNabb here with us. What are your expectations this year for Carson Wentz with another new team now being the quarterback of the commanders? Well, knowing Ron Rivera from a personal standpoint, also being on the coaching staff with us in Philadelphia, I know that he's a guy that's patient. I know that he's a guy that's going to push and be in his corner of his players. So if Carson has highs, he has lows, Carson knows that Ron is always going to be in his corner and there won't be kind of any backstabbing or, you know, leaking any information from an organization that we've all seen, you know, for myself being a part of throughout my career.

So I know Ron will be there for him. I think this will be a good year for Carson coming off a last season in Indy where I think he has some talent around him. The defense I think is a lot better than people are giving him credit for in Washington.

So they're going to be much better than people think. I think for the Washington commanders, it will be a challenge this weekend versus the Philadelphia Eagles because I think the commanders can really compete with them on every level of the offense and defense. So I just think for Carson, if he protects the football and gets out of the pocket when he has to, then it helps lose the change for that offense and it takes a lot of pressure off of the other key roles in the key positions on the offensive end.

When you go up against your old team, and I know it's now a team that was in between in Indianapolis but Carson started that career out in Philadelphia, how do you handle those emotions when you go up against an old team? Well, I mean, you know, coming back to Philadelphia when I was in Washington, you know, obviously the first thing in your mind is you want to do whatever it takes to win. You want to prove your worth. You want to show them that they made the mistake. But you don't want to get so out of whack that you just don't play your game.

You're trying to do too much. So I think just the motivation of doing what it takes to win is now the stepping stone. Now everything else is just being well prepared and reading your keys and being able to be, you know, accurate with the ball and be able to get the ball to the guys that allowed them to make plays for you. But I think what you're going to see is you're going to see the commanders kind of rally around Carson to try to do whatever it takes to help them get this win.

And that's the same thing that happened with me when I was in Washington with my teammates. So it's going to be a battle. It's going to be a grind. It's going to be one to watch definitely when the game comes about. But I think the Philadelphians will come out on top because I think this overall talent on both sides of the ball will be able to prevail to be able to win at the end. Is it a little bit different because the Eagles are on the road this week. Now there'll be a lot of Eagles fans as we know in Landover Maryland.

Oh we travel well. Yeah there's no doubt about that and the commanders fans don't really show up all that much because the team's been disgraceful throughout the years and it's a terrible stadium. But anyway all that aside, is it a little bit different just mentally since the the Eagles, it's not at Lincoln Financial Field for Carson this week and then it will be different when you get into that game at the Lincoln November. Well I mean for me I wanted it like I had it. I wanted to be in in Philadelphia for the first game. I wanted to get it over with.

I wanted to get back and kind of be able to you know just get that little notch on your belt. And we were able to win that game. We lost obviously in Maryland. But I will say this for Carson, yes it is probably better for him to be in Washington playing this first game. Because it's really early for him and then you know the thing that they they're doing in Philadelphia is Cerrioni's changed the culture over there.

At least when I was you know playing Andy was still over there so I have my guy still on the other sideline. For Nick Cerrioni you know he wasn't with Nick very long and so when Nick made the change to you know obviously to go with with Jalen you know being his guy you know Carson was kind of moving on at that time. So I just think for for Carson this is great for him. This is a perfect opportunity for him to to show what he can really do.

Obviously last week against Detroit wasn't his best performance. And now it's for him to kind of rewrite the ship and and try to carry them along to be able to compete in the NFC. Donovan McNabb here with us. You talk about the advantage in terms of talent for the Eagles. Is that at the quarterback position?

Do you prefer Hertz over once? You know what right now I would say yes just from what I've seen as far as the the change of the offense. The change of the offense is better suited for Jalen Hertz. And that was my question with Nick Cerrioni when he came in was what type of offense are you gonna run? You know because being in being in San Diego when it was in San Diego I believe at that time with Phillip Rivers and then coming over to Indianapolis and then having Phillip Rivers again with Frank Wright the offense was a whole lot different than what we're seeing now. And I think he I thought he brought that same approach over from Indy to Philadelphia early until he realized the talent he had starting with the quarterback position. And he's kind of changed up that offense where suited for Jalen and AJ and Dallas and Devontae where it works in their favor and really the beneficiary of it all that no one talks about is Miles Sanders, Boston Scott and the rest of the running game.

Because I think they can benefit on it just like you're seeing Taylor over there run in Indy where I think they can have a pretty big year for. Donovan McNabb here with us. Right now who's the best quarterback in the NFL in your opinion? Best quarterback in the NFL to me right now I would say probably it's either it's a tie between Josh Allen and Patrick Mahone. I know everybody wants to kind of look for the new shiny toy and jump on the Josh Allen train but Patrick hasn't went anywhere and Patrick's gonna put up great numbers.

Patrick's gonna do the same thing he's been doing with Andy even though Tariq's not there they're just gonna be a little bit more consistent and spreading the ball around. But everybody's jumping on the Josh Allen train and should because he's talented he does a lot of great things but I would say it's a tie between the two. You mentioned Tariq Hill he's now down in Florida along with Jalen Waddle and Tuatunga Vailoa, Dolphins 2-0 and they go up against Josh Allen the Bills this weekend in Miami. What have you been seeing so far from Tuahum and where's your belief level that he's gonna have a breakout year this season? This is the thing that people need to realize if you look across the board at what he has at his disposal on offense all it looks like is him back at Alabama and we know how great he played when he was in Alabama when he had speed on the outside he had a running game with guys that can catch the ball out of the backfield tight ends that can get out down the field versus safeties and linebackers and so it's working in his favor because he's back it feels like he's back at home and so I'm very impressed with Tuahum because I think personally that Tuahum is also a franchise quarterback especially for the Miami Dolphins and we people want to highlight his arm strength but when you're accurate when you're getting the ball out on time and you have weapons that can turn a 14-15 yard game to a 45 yard touchdown everybody looks great. Are you starting to be a little bit skeptical on Russell Wilson the last year and a half things haven't gone his way now on a new team not at all and I know the coach has been a major problem there in Denver so far not at all not at all Russell Wilson is a hall of famer and Russell Wilson is a guy that you can rely on to help win games at the end I put more pressure on Hackett I put more pressure on head coach Hackett because the decisions that he's making in these first first couple weeks crazy are not head coaches decisions they're they're coordinator positions that have the idea from the coordinator position but don't pull the plug being the head coach now you're the head coach and you have to say yes or no and so he's not trusting Russell which leads to the team not fully confident yet in Hackett and so I say that because you go to that Seattle game Russell threw for over 300 yards in that in that Seattle game and you know the magnitude of that game because he's coming back to play versus former team and you don't put the ball in his hand you kick a 64 yard field goal which I think the kickers are one and ten in 60 60 plus yard field goals and you're not playing in Denver and you're not playing in Denver and then I go to the last game which the offense just seemed a little out of whack this last game was even worse than the first game and I I didn't think that could be the case because his own fans were mocking the head coach like that that's tough well it's it's tough because again he's a young coach never been a head coach everyone gets enamored again with the guys who are 35 and under or whatever but he's never been a head coach in that situation which you wonder if he was even the guy calling the plays in Green Bay because Lafleur is the one that's calling the place so to me it's a lot of pressure on him at this point now don't get me wrong Denver is going to be highly competitive in the west they're going to turn this thing around you'll see Russell start to play well Judy you know Sutton those guys will start elevating their game but I need to see them be able to run the ball a little bit more effective in order for that offense to be strong they have two great running backs that are kind of similar but very different but they need to run that offense through the running game so the play action game can work in the favor for Russell. Donovan McNabb before we let you run I know you're a big fan of Kyler Murray we've talked about him before what a comeback that was last week up against the Raiders being down 20 to nothing this week Kyler Murray at home welcomes in the defending Super Bowl champion LA Rams how do you see that game playing on out? That's gonna be tough that's really gonna be tough you know when you don't have your number one receiver who's out for a few more weeks AJ Green seems he was a little off last week dropping a few balls I think their slot receiver from Purdue he's out so now I think when you're playing against Aaron Donald which we know can become a problem from a defensive line standpoint Jalen Ramsey really brought his confidence back from last week's performance I think it's going to be a lot of pressure and a lot of heat on this Arizona Cardinals football team I don't see them winning this game I think it's going to be close to a double digit loss but I just think it's going to be tough tough uphill battle for the Arizona Cardinals. One more for you Packers and Bucks this weekend Rogers up against Brady down in Tampa give me give me a thought or two on that. It's going to be just like that NFC Championship well the game that we thought Green Bay should have won but they end up losing because Aaron didn't run and run the ball in the end zone and it wasn't Matt LaFleur fault everybody tried to point the ball point the finger at Matt LaFleur because he kicked the field goal I think it'll be just like that because offensively Tampa's trying to figure themselves out defensively they're strong yeah they're they're back to where they were back in the Super Bowl run so it's now just on the offense and it's the battle versus the offense versus Green Bay defense that is strong but I expected to you know see them run the ball effectively the screen game is going to be big for Tampa Ira lessons is going to come up with opportunities for guys that you least expect to step up and to make plays for them but again it's hard to bet against Tom Brady I don't care what anybody says no matter what it is you could win 7-6 you could win 10-9 and Tom's on top you know it's just he just finds ways to win and I just think Tampa just is right now they figured it out on defense but offensively I think this is when they turn the turn the corner.

He's the six-time pro bowler always excellent when he joins us Donovan McNabb. Donovan great to hear your voice appreciate you catching up with us. I appreciate you having me on you guys have the best of luck. How's your mental health? I'm listening with Alanis Morissette. When it first started I would have my nightly panic attacks but then I started getting really curious about all the sensations like I just really started looking at okay so chest is you know I got really kind of granular and observing the details of what was really going on with the breath it's just survival strategy it's cortisol cooking non-stop you know chronic stress is trauma. More at i'm listening dot org talk saves lives. How's your mental health? I'm listening with Alanis Morissette.

When it first started I would have my nightly panic attacks but then I started getting really curious about all the sensations like I just really started looking at okay so chest is you know I got really kind of granular and observing the details of what was really going on with the breath it's just survival strategy it's cortisol cooking non-stop you know chronic stress is trauma. More at i'm listening dot org talk saves lives. Ready to improve your bottom line? The room can match you with a top financial analyst. Trusted by small businesses startups and entrepreneurs the room's virtual financial analysts are highly trained vetted through a rigorous data-driven process and matched to fit your needs. Drive business growth with a virtual financial analyst from the room. It's like listening to all the financial podcasts rolled into one. Get started today at trytheroom.com that's trytheroom.com. The listening you love is on the free odyssey app your trusted local radio stations coverage of your favorite teams live news from your hometown and millions of podcasts on demand best of all you can completely customize your listening experience follow topics you care about like leagues and teams pause or rewind your local sports and news and add shows to your queue to catch up later there's a lot to listen to so get started and download the free odyssey app today