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McNabb tries to remain upbeat as Eagles fall to earth

With wide receiver Terrell Owens exiled and the Eagles struggling, quarterback Donovan McNabb sounded eager to move on Thursday.

"My goal is to lead this team to a Super Bowl win," McNabb said during his first public comments since Owens apologized Tuesday. "In order for that to happen, I can't let what one person, or one group who may say something bad about me, pull me away from my goal."

Citing conduct detrimental to the team, the Eagles (4-4) suspended Owens last week and insisted that he would not return when the four-game suspension ended. The NFL's players union has filed a grievance on behalf of Owens, and a hearing has been scheduled for Nov. 18.

The union wants the Eagles to be forced to release Owens if they no longer want him, giving him the chance to sign elsewhere.

Owens' regular criticism of McNabb helped lead to the suspension.

Given a chance to fire back, McNabb acted like a quarterback. He passed.

"Sometimes you do want to say something, but the best way of handling it is to hold your chin up," said McNabb, who did not mention Owens by name during the 10-minute news conference.

"Never lower yourself to what someone else may say. That's not me. You've never heard me say anything bad about him," he said.

During the news conference, a door noisily opened next to where McNabb was sitting, and he had a one-liner ready.

"Somebody's trying to get back in here," McNabb said, making many of those in the room laugh.

Reacting to the apology, McNabb sounded perturbed by Owens's agent, Drew Rosenhaus, who defended Owens after his statement Tuesday but refused to answer many questions from reporters.

"I thought it was a sincere apology," McNabb said. "It's unfortunate after the apology, what happened after that."

Some have criticized McNabb for not aggressively trying to make peace with Owens before their relationship deteriorated. But McNabb did not second-guess himself.

"I don't regret anything that I've done or said, or the way I've handled it," McNabb said. "We are role models and we are grown men. Things that I've done, I think my teammates understand."

McNabb said that he and Owens missed a chance to become one of the NFL's best-ever passing-receiving combinations.
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