McNabb still Eagles’ starter

Donovan McNabb will start when the Philadelphia Eagles host the Arizona Cardinals on Thursday night.

The five-time Pro Bowl quarterback was benched for the first time in his career at halftime of Philadelphia’s 36-7 loss at Baltimore on Sunday. Second-year pro Kevin Kolb played poorly against the Ravens, and Eagles coach Andy Reid said Monday he’s going back to McNabb.

“Sometimes you have to step back to step forward in a positive way and Donovan will do that,” Reid said. “This has nothing to do with Kolb’s performance or Donovan’s performance.”

The Eagles (5-5-1) are on the verge of missing the playoffs for the third time in four years since losing the 2005 Super Bowl. No matter how they finish, this could be McNabb’s last season in Philadelphia.

McNabb, who turns 32 today, is 22-21-1 as a starter since leading Philadelphia to four straight NFC championship games from 2001-04.

“As I sit here right now, he’s my starting quarterback,” Reid said. “I need to coach better. Donovan needs to play better and the guys around Donovan need to play better.”

‘Pacman’ practices

Suspended cornerback Adam “Pacman” Jones was back at work with the Dallas Cowboys on Monday, going to meetings and a practice even though he can’t suit up until Dec. 7 against Pittsburgh.

Jones is allowed to do everything but play in the next game — Thursday against Seattle — as he works his way back from his latest suspension, a six-game penalty for violating the league’s player conduct policy. He previously was suspended for the entire 2007 season and coach Wade Phillips said Monday it’s reasonable to believe another slip-up would get him permanently banned from the NFL.

“We’ve got to hope, for his sake really, that he has cleared all that up,” Phillips said. “All the pressure is on him, really, to do the right thing.”

Crennel not concerned

Amid speculation his job is in jeopardy, Cleveland Browns coach Romeo Crennel said Monday he isn’t worried about his future.

Expected to be a playoff contender after winning 10 games last season, the Browns lost their third straight home game and fell to 4-7 on Sunday following an embarrassing 16-6 loss to the Houston Texans. Crennel, 24-35 since taking over in 2005, was disappointed with his team’s performance and said the “buck stops with me.”

“I don’t worry about it. I can’t control it,” he said. “The thing I can control is whether we win or lose.

“If we win, that improves my chances. If we don’t, then that hurts my chances.”

Also, Crennel said quarterback Brady Quinn has not lost his starting job after being pulled in the third quarter on Sunday in favor of Derek Anderson.