ESPN Monday Night Football analyst Ron Jaworski participated in a conference call today to discuss this week’s MNF matchup between the Philadelphia Eagles and Washington Redskins, as Donavan McNabb prepares to face his former team for the second time in a critical NFC East rivalry game (Nov. 15, 8:30 p.m. on ESPN and ESPN HD). Conference call highlights:

On McNabb and the two-minute drill…

“If you look at the history of Donovan, he’s been inconsistent in that period of time. There’ve been times when he’s run the two-minute offense brilliantly and there have been times where it’s been sketchy…I always felt a strong arm was critical to success in a two-minute drill and always think mobility is important as well…I think your quarterback has to have a pocket feel and ability to move around in the pocket.”

“I think every quarterback loves to run the two-minute drill. I think every quarterback looks forward to that. It’s the one time when you get the chance to call the play and run the offense…it really is your time to take charge of the offense.”

On Redskins head coach Mike Shanahan benching McNabb in the fourth quarter against the Lions…

“It’s kind of a head-scratcher. I’m still trying to find something that would have hinted a change was going to be made and still can’t see one. …Certainly I thought Donovan was doing all he could have done in the situation during the game under the duress he was under. …It’s kind of a head scratcher that at a critical time in the game, when your football team is 4-3 — and you have the chance to get to 5-3 — that you would choose at that time to bench the quarterback. I can’t find any rhyme or reason why they made that decision.”

On the challenges a quarterback faces learning a new offense…

“It’s like learning another language. Until you learn the ABC’s, you don’t put words together…You don’t want to try and learn everything in a week, month and sometimes not even a year.”

On Michael Vick’s development as the Eagles starting quarterback….

“Michael is playing tremendous football. One thing that jumps out at me as opposed to last year…Michael being away a couple years, he was rust.  Last year he didn’t have that quick twitch and that’s what made him so dangerous…What I see now is the quickness is back…he has the unique ability to identify man or zone…The mobility is now back and he reads the coverage very well…What jumps out too, is the chemistry between Michael and DeSean Jackson. It seems they are on the same page. They see the field through the same eyes. The numbers bear that out.”

“What I’m seeing is a quarterback more inclined to stay in the pocket, to go through that progression and find No. 2 and find No. 3. I think ultimately that’s when you become a terrific quarterback. Then you take the run option as the last option, or, if there’s quick pressure on the quarterback, get rid of the football. I’m seeing the growth of Michael Vick in that area. I wouldn’t have thought it a year ago, but I think it’s really a testament to Andy Reid…I think he’s made the strong commitment to learn this offense.”

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