In his first public comments since his benching last week, Donovan McNabb said on Tuesday he would welcome a return to the Redskins in 2011.
McNabb discussed the benching and his relationship with the coaching staff on ESPN 980's "The Donovan McNabb Show," co-hosted by Kevin Sheehan and Thom Loverro.
Asked by Sheehan if there's a chance he'll be back in 2011, McNabb replied: "Well, I definitely hope so and I expressed that. I don't want to go anywhere. I love the fans here, in the Northern Virginia, D.C. area – the DMV. I've enjoyed myself here.
"I think we can do some good things here. I thank the fans for all the support they have given me through this whole process and ever since I've been here. I look for good things to happen."
Head coach Mike Shanahan said last week that he could not guarantee McNabb would be back in Washington in 2011.
Asked about that statement, McNabb replied: "I really wasn't looking for a guarantee. I wanted to hear thoughts, 'What are you thinking?'"
Does McNabb want to be traded or released?
"No, I want to be here," he said. "I do. I don't believe in starting something and not finishing. I've always said from the beginning of the season that we have a core of guys here we can do things with."
McNabb was pressed a third time about returning to Washington.
What are the chances he's back?
"Any [percentage] I give, you guys aren't going to believe me anyway," he replied. "I don't know. That'll be a question that probably will be answered sometime this offseason, I guess. I don't know."
In explaining the benching last Friday, Shanahan said he made the decision once the Redskins were mathematically eliminated from the postseason. He said he wanted to get a closer look at backup quarterbacks Rex Grossman and John Beck.
Shanahan informed McNabb of the decision last Thursday night.
On Tuesday during his radio show, McNabb expressed disappointment with the process.
"Normally if you go through a process like that you would find out about it on a Monday or a Tuesday," McNabb said. "I don't think you hear about it on a Thursday morning going into Friday practice. My mindset was obviously on being a starter, preparing to go down to Dallas and trying to help the team win. Obviously that came to an end on Thursday evening."
McNabb said he strongly disagreed with the decision.
"If we're evaluating me, then you evaluate everyone else," he said. "I think that's the key that no one is really looking at. Are you evaluating everyone else, or are you evaluating just the quarterback position?
"Again, it was one that I felt – I was pulled back by it. When you get in that situation, and all of a sudden you get this news a couple days before a game, you know you do feel somewhat disrespected. It was one where, 'You could have told me earlier or at least prepared me for it.'"
McNabb said he has moved on, though.
"It's over and I'm just focusing in on what I need to do to be a strong backup," he said.
McNabb is expected to serve as the No. 3 quarterback the final two games of the regular season.
He admitted he was a little surprised to serve in that capacity.
"I don't think too many guys go from one to three," he said. "That's an unfortunate situation that I guess I'm one of few to be a part of. But I'm here with the team and I'm making sure I'm prepared just like as if I'm going in. You just never know."
Third quarterbacks usually run the scout team offense, but Shanahan said this week that he would not require McNabb, a 12-year veteran, to do that.
"I would never let a guy like Donovan run the scout team unless he wanted to run the scout team," Shanahan said. "But knowing Donovan, he would probably like to get some snaps. He was number two and wanted to take some scout team snaps last week. It just shows you what type of guy Donovan is."
