Pondering McNabb’s job security in Minnesota

Published: September 21st, 2011 | Tags: Donovan McNabb, Christian Ponder, Michael Lombardi, Minnesota Vikings

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Donovan McNabb stood in front of the Vikings this week and told his teammates there’s no need to panic. McNabb sounds like someone with some job security.

From Michael Lombardi’s perspective, that’s exactly what McNabb has.  Even after an 0-2 start, Lombardi doesn’t believe the Vikings are close to giving rookie Christian Ponder his first chance to steer the ship.

“McNabb is the guy this year,” Lombardi said Wednesday on “Around the League”. “Right now, the team is built around McNabb being somewhat successful. The Vikings aren’t able to compete at the highest level unless they have an experienced quarterback (in the lineup). There are a lot of other issues besides McNabb taking blame for the two losses in Minnesota.”

Once the Vikings go down the road of benching McNabb, there’s really no going back. As Lombardi suggests, it was clear to the entire team during the preseason that Ponder didn’t give the team its best chance to win. You can’t fool the locker room.

“If they do that, they’re sending the message to the team that basically they’re looking toward next year,” Lombardi added. “I don’t think you want to do that with so many games remaining in the season. Ponder didn’t play well during the preseason. The team knows he didn’t win the job. If they just give him the job, then basically they’re telling the team they’re talking about 2012, not 2011. I don’t think you want to do that this early in the season.”

McNabb is on a one-year deal. So if the Vikings completely go in the tank, maybe this conversation is resurrected in three months. Until then, there is no reason to believe this isn’t McNabb’s show.

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