Last night Donovan McNabb's agent Fletcher Smith released a statement in which he called the Shanahan's decision to bench his client "beyond disrespectful. This isn't really anything new, as Smith came out with a similar comment last week when the benching first happened. After that statement was released, the Redskins released a statement from Mike Shanahan responding to Smith's claim. Here it is in its entirety.
“As I stated earlier, when I traded for Donovan McNabb I had hoped that he would lead us to the playoffs. No one wanted him to be more successful than me. When the team was 5-8 and mathematically out of the playoffs, I made the decision to evaluate our other two quarterbacks. This was not personal, but strictly professional. The decision was made in the best interest of the Washington Redskins and I stand by my decision. I will attempt to talk to Fletcher Smith directly to clear up every one of his misconceptions.”
Again, this isn't really anything different than what Shanahan has said in the past. Shanahan continues to contend that it was purely a football decision, and those who think McNabb hasn't played very well this year tend to agree with him. Meanwhile, those who are in McNabb's corner continue to side with Fletcher Smith. Either way you see it, this seems like a relationship beyond repair. We might have to wait until after the season though to see how it plays out.