Donovan McNabb looking at a one-and-done season with Mike Shanahan and the Washington Redskins

Sancya/AP; McIsaac/GettyMike Shanahan (r.) benches Donovan McNabb last week in Detroit with the Redskins trailing the Lions by six with 1:50 remaining.

Donovan McNabb was benched at halftime by Eagles coach Andy Reid during a 2008 game in Baltimore. Any time that happens to an established quarterback, especially one who has taken his team to a Super Bowl, it is unexpected and humiliating.

McNabb was the starter again the following week and responded by leading the Eagles to the NFC Championship Game for the fifth time in his career.

But what happened to him last Sunday, in just his eighth game for the Redskins, was not only embarrassing, but could lead to a one-and-done season for McNabb in Washington.

McNabb is having a mediocre year, but did not deserve to be disrespected by Mike Shanahan last week in Detroit. Shanahan not only benched McNabb with the Redskins down by just six with 1:50 remaining, but he benched him for Rex Grossman.

Rex Grossman?

Grossman, one of the most maligned quarterbacks of the last 10 years, had not taken a snap this season and threw nine passes for the Texans last year. On his first play, he fumbled and the Lions took it back for a touchdown.

Shanahan tried to first explain the benching by saying Grossman was more familiar with running the two-minute offense.

Grossman's offensive coordinator in Houston was Shanahan's son, Kyle, who is now the Redskins' offensive coordinator. Grossman
did not run the two-minute offense in a game in Houston.

Then on Monday, Shanahan said McNabb did not have the "cardiovascular endurance," to run the two-minute offense. He had been bothered by a hamstring injury and didn't take a full turn in practice the previous week. But these excuses are pretty lame, even if McNabb's conditioning at the end of the Super Bowl nearly six years ago was questioned after Philly's hurry-up offense had no sense of urgency.

Plenty of big-name quarterbacks have been benched at some point in their careers: Joe Montana, Terry Bradshaw, Phil Simms, Kurt Warner, Drew Brees, Boomer Esiason, Drew Bledsoe, Danny White and Kerry Collins, to name just a few.

But benched with 1:50 left down six, and for a QB who has stood around for 58 minutes? Hard to recall that ever happening. Obviously, there are larger issues here. Shanahan supposedly has not been happy with McNabb, who has seven TDs and eight INTs. The Redskins have already lost on the road to the Rams and Lions and are not taking advantage of a weak year in the NFC.

McNabb is in the final year of his contract. When Shanahan traded a 2010 second-round pick and either a third- or fourth-round pick in 2011 to Philly on April 4 for McNabb, he not only didn't extend his contract, but made a serious effort to get into position to draft Oklahoma QB Sam Bradford, who went first overall to St. Louis.

Clearly, McNabb is on a one-year trial. Shanahan is taking McNabb for a test drive.

But Shanahan undermined McNabb's ability to lead this team. How can McNabb trust him? Will it happen again? Unless McNabb plays lights-out the second half of the season, I find it hard to believe he will be back in Washington next year.

Possible landing spots: If Brad Childress, who was McNabb's offensive coordinator in Philly, doesn't get fired by the Vikings, he could sign him to replace Brett Favre in 2011; McNabb has a home in the Phoenix area and the Cardinals are wasting their time with Derek Anderson and Max Hall; there was even speculation last week about the Bears trading disappointing Jay Cutler after the season to Shanahan, who coached Cutler his first three seasons in Denver, and then the Bears signing McNabb, who is from Chicago.

The Redskins are off Sunday. It's McNabb vs. the Eagles again next week. He will start. The issue is will he finish?

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