It's One Thing When I Say It...

But this is from the man himself:

On having success throwing into coverage and taking chances down-field vs. the Rams: "My thing, this year, is the fact that I'm trying to give these guys an opportunity to make plays. I thought, earlier in my career, maybe at times I would have held the ball and tried to give them an opportunity to create separation when it didn't happen or whatever it may be. But now, it's getting the ball out of my hands and making them make plays for me. We have some great weapons on the outside. We have some guys that can make plays for you. You have to give them that opportunity. (TE) L.J. (Smith) did a great job last week, (WRs) DeSean (Jackson) did great, Jason Avant had a great game, and the list goes on. So, I've always said that, in order for guys to be effective in this offense, you've got to call plays for them and give them opportunities. That's what I was trying to do."

Emphasis most definitely added.

He continues:

On whether he has had a change in philosophy and when it occurred: "I'm not 21, 22, 23 years old anymore. There are no 14-second scrambles going on. Drop back, get the ball out of your hands and let those guys go to work."

On whether his knee injuries have had an impact on that philosophy: "The knee has nothing to do with it."

On letting a rookie like DeSean Jackson go up and make plays down-field: "You have to do that. You have to trust him. You show them that you have trust in them, which, obviously, leads to them trusting me. You have to reward guys as well. You go through a week of practice with guys putting in extra time and catching balls in practice and doing an excellent job off the field, you reward them. When they have that opportunity, when they do get open, you want to get them the ball and give them an opportunity to make more plays and pick up more yards. That's pretty much what it's come from."

This is vindication.

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I've been beating this "separation" argument into the ground for so long it's almost hard to remember that there was a time not that long ago when it was anything but the conventional wisdom. 

Heck, last November I felt the need to write a huge long deal examining the competing theories for why McNabb was struggling a bit and laying out this whole separation argument.  It's amazing how much currency this idea has picked up since then.

But here's the thing.  Think back to last Sunday.  How many times did Donovan squeeze a ball into a guy who wasn't super open?  A few, maybe? 

And how many times was that guy a wide receiver not named DeSean Jackson?  Off the top of my head, I can't think of any, although I could definitely be wrong. 

So do we have Donovan turning the separation theory on its head -- i.e., he now trusts all his guys to go make plays -- or is this actually a confirmation of the theory's "strong form" in that what we're seeing with Jackson is how McNabb always plays / has played with his most talented receivers, but not everyone else? 

It's going to be awhile before we know for sure. 

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Note on that link:  I was making a point about speed relative to defenders, but that line about Berrian & Hester v. Curtis & Brown might have been the single dumbest thing I've ever written.  And I've had some doozies.