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ESPN - McNabb ready to play first game since knee injury - NFL

excerpt:

PHILADELPHIA -- Once Donovan McNabb eludes a sack and scrambles for a gain, most observers will say that No. 5 is back.

Donovan McNabb

McNabb

The five-time Pro Bowl quarterback doesn't need to break a long run or endure a hard hit to convince himself he's ready. He already knows. Now he just has to do it before a huge crowd anxiously waiting to see how the franchise player responds to his first action in nine months.

McNabb will play his first game since tearing a knee ligament last November when the Philadelphia Eagles host the Carolina Panthers on Friday night in a preseason game.

"I don't approach it like it's a big step," McNabb said Thursday. "It's not anything that's a test for me. I've tried to prepare myself for the test of coming into training camp knowing what we were going to do. This particular game, I just think it's important as a unit that we capitalize on all the things we were doing in training camp."

Is he eager to see how his surgically repaired right knee holds up after a direct shot?

"I don't need anybody to hit me to wake me up and get me going," McNabb said. "I've been playing for eight years. I didn't need anybody to hit me when I came out with a sports hernia and I definitely don't need anybody to hit me now and let me know I'm playing football again."

McNabb is used to this. He missed the final seven games of the 2005 season with a sports hernia and showed no ill effects upon returning last year. He also missed five games with a broken ankle in 2002, but came back for the playoffs so he didn't have to wait the entire offseason before playing again.

Coach Andy Reid said he plans to keep his starters in for the first half against the Panthers. He'll monitor McNabb and may play him only one quarter. A.J. Feeley would follow and rookie Kevin Kolb will finish up. Veteran Kelly Holcomb is getting the night off.

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