Congrats to Donovan and the "other" mama McNabb

Eagles QB Donovan McNabb's wife Racquel, a.k.a. Roxie, has given birth to twins, according to NBC 10's John Clark.

The McNabbs (who were college sweethearts at Syracuse University) welcomed the twins -- a little boy and a little girl -- at some point Monday night into Tuesday morning, according to sources.

Shawn Andrews met the media yesterday and answered questions about his recent surgery and stay in California.

-- On why he had to remain in California, where the surgery was performed, for so long: "Dr. Watkins (his surgeon) recommended it. It was just some things that he saw, I guess, in the X-rays and the MRIs and the way that I told him I felt. So he used (that data as) a gauge and ... decided to keep me."

-- On if he thinks he'll play this year: "Well, you can hope all you want, and I do hope. I don't know what the possibilities are, so I'm back here and working with (trainer) Rick (Burkholder) and the guys, so now it's a matter of getting to that point where I can get out there and push and pull and take some people out."

-- On the feeling of returning to the team: "It's a breath of fresh air, it is. It almost kind of reminds me of preseason, like when my teammates were struggling the way they are and guys catching a lot of flak and me not being here to go through it and also I've gone through my set of problems as well. So it's all tough and it's good to be back and just to be back home in my own bed and just to be around the guys again. It's pretty cool."

-- On how the post-surgical complication of internal bleeding set him back: "I don't know. ... I followed the protocol. Doc said no BLTs -- bending, lifting or twisting -- and I followed that to the best of my ability. He told me to just walk as much as I needed to and to walk as much as it was comfortable and that's what I did."

Andrews also described himself as a "pesce-tarian" Which is a person who doesn't eat meat except for fish. He also showed up to the NovaCare complex sporting a bright red "Bro-hawk." At the very least, Andrews is always coloful.

The big story this week in the NFL is of course Plaxico Burress. Burress was accidentally shot in the leg when the unregistered handgun he was carrying went off in an NYC nightclub. Burress turned himself in to police and will be charged for carrying an unregistered firearm. If convicted, Burress faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 3 1/2 years in prison. New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg wants to make an example of the WR.

"I don't think that anybody should be exempt from that," Bloomberg said. "It would be an outrage if we don't prosecute to the fullest extent of the law."

Not prosecuting celebrities would make "a sham, a mockery of the law," the mayor asserted.

The mandatory sentencing would not necessarily apply if Burress is offered a plea bargain.

Defense lawyers said prosecutors are loath to cut a deal. "The DAs ... have been very hard-nosed on this," said veteran criminal defense lawyer Martin Geduldig. "They expect jail time."

The Eagles have been no stranger to gun incidents as Reuben Frank points out today. There was the minor Jabar Gaffney arrest, Broderick "Desert Eagle" Bunkley had several of his guns stolen, and the most serious was the shooting of Jerome McDougle a few years ago. In the past year we've seen Shawn Taylor be shot and killed and Richard Collier paralyzed by a gun shot.

After seeing what happened to Collier and Taylor it's hard to blame a player for wanting to protect themselves, but as Lito Sheppard says it's about responsibility.

"You've got to know when and where you can do things,” Sheppard said. "You don't want to put yourself in that position. Mine's always been registered. And I try not to carry it half the time. Even if I have to use it, do I really want to use it?”

"Anybody in this profession, you get a lot of publicity on TV, but you still like to do normal things, can be a target. I still like to go Wal-Mart or the mall. You're definitely a target. You just hope you don't get put in a bad situation.”

I have to agree with Lito here. I can fully understand an NFL player feeling the need to carry protection and I can't say I'd do any different if I were them. However, it's about being responsible.

The Eagles' standout rookie WR turns 22 today.

Jackson is currently #1 among NFL rookies in receiving yards and #2 in catches. He leads all rookies in catches over 20 yards and first down catches.

He's also ranked #2 in the NFL in punt return yardage.

Jackson has 2 TD catches, 1 rushing TD, and one punt return TD.

We began taking the pulse of the Eagles community two weeks ago after the home loss to the Giants. At the time Andy Reid's approval rating amongst fans sat at 17%.

After the tie with the Bengals it dipped to just 8%.

Since then, the Eagles have played 2 games in the span of 5 days. The first a dismal blowout defeat to the Ravens which saw starting QB Donovan McNabb benched. The second a blowout win over the Cardinals on Thanksgiving which saw more focus on the run game and a rejuvenated McNabb.

After such a tumultuous, up and down week in Eagle-land how much confidence in Reid do the fans have now?

 Chris Collinsworth made a point of mentioning several times Thanksgiving night that the Eagles told him they would be rotating WRs less that night than in other games. They felt that the rotating of WRs was making it hard to get a rythm on offense.

Collinsworth said the Eagles would stick primarily with Desean Jackson and Kevin Curtis on the field all game with other guys rotating in at 3 and 4. However, there was as little rotating at the 3 and 4 spots as there was at 1 and 2. Quite clearly, Jason Avant and Hank Baskett were the 3 and 4 WRs.

Reggie Brown was no where to be seen. Neither was Greg Lewis... but who cares?

The fact that Brown was relegated to the bench is interesting. It's not surprising that he isn't starting over Curtis or Jackson, I think we al can see that those guys are better players than Brown. However, to see him fall down the depth chart below guys who used to be his backups is a surprise. There's no doubt that based simply on how the WRs have performed this year, Baskett and Avant deserve to be ahead of Brown.

It's hard to figure where Brown's place on the team is right now. Curtis and Jackson are the starters and that shouldn't be changing for quite a while. At least in the case of Jackson, he should be the starter here for many years. The other WRs have clear roles and attributes they can hang their hat on.

Hank Baskett is the biggest WR on the team. We've seen him work in the end zone and get on the end of the fade pass a few times and we've seen him make several tough catches this year.

Jason Avant probably has the best hands on the team. He's not our fastest WR, in fact he's probably the slowest, but he goes over the middle and catches anything thrown his way. Every team needs that kind of tough, move the chains type of WR. He'll never be a star or gamebreaker but a guy that find a hole in coverage and make a tough first down catch over the middle will always be an important role player here.

So what can Reggie hang his hat on? He's not a big WR, but he's not small either. He's not an incredibly speedy WR, but he isn't slow. He has had suspect hands at times and has been drop prone. Andy Reid said Reggie's absence against Arizona was simply a case of things being "too diluted"

"I know people have said we don't have a lot of good receivers. I think a little bit different from that. Right now, we've got a lot of good receivers," Reid said. "The problem is we had to back off on some guys so that we could get our timing back in the pass game.

"This is a timing passing game, a precision passing game, and we were rotating so many guys in there that it didn't give the quarterback and wide receivers an opportunity to get on the same page and get enough reps in practice. So as good a player as Reggie is, we cut back his reps a little bit. That doesn't mean Reggie can't play or won't be a factor in these games. But it was just so we could tighten things up a little bit in the passing game. Things were getting too diluted there."

So does Andy think the pass game will get rolling again and he go back to playing whatever WRs he wants at any time? Or will he get wise to the fact that letting guys flourish in a certain role isn't a bad idea?

What is Reggie Brown's future with this team? Will the former second round pick simply be a Greg Lewis type spare part for years, will he be the player that caught 8 TDs in 2006 again, or will he be somewhere else?

The Eagles and their fans get to sit back and enjoy some stress free football on TV today. The Birds have 10 days to rest and heal up for their matchup with the Giants next weekend. In the meantime, here some games that should be of interest today.

Carolina @ Green Bay - This is a matchup of two teams locked in 3 teams fights for the top of their divisions... but the difference is that Carolina is 8-3 and the Packers are just 5-6 but still only a game out of their division lead. The Pack will be fighting for their playoff live at home today, while the Panthers will be looking to keep pace with the Bucs and Falcons. Both teams were blown out last weekend and will be looking to rebound.

New Orleans @ Tampa Bay - The New Orleans offense is firing on all cylinders after putting up 51 on the Packers last week. They head to Tamps to face their NFC South leading rivals Tampa Bay in will be a statement game for the Bucs. If they are for real, we should find out today.

New York Giants @ Washington - This is the big one for Eagles fans. The Redskins have not played well since their bye and are in danger of seriously falling out of the NFC East race. A win over the Giants today would put them just two games back in the division and leapfrog them over Dallas for the final wildcard spot. With the Eagles heading up to NY next week, it would be nice to see some cracks in the Giants armor today.

PIttsburgh @ New England - This should just be a good game. Two teams that have been powers in the AFC for years, both playing well... Should be fun.

Kansas City @ Oakland - Yes, they both suck... but it's still one of the classic rivalries in football.

Jay Glazer

Plaxico Burress' controversial year has just taken a turn for the worse.

The New York Giants wide receiver accidentally shot himself in the leg on Friday night, FOXSports.com has learned, not long after being ruled out of Sunday's game against the Redskins with a hamstring injury.

He spent the night in the hospital and the injuries are not believed to be life-threatening. The team is still trying to gather further information on the incident.

Wow. I suppose this means Burress, who always plays well against us, will miss next week's showdown with the Giants in North Jersey.