Donovan McNabb sounded nothing like a guy on his last legs with the Eagles Wednesday.

The locker room was his, just as it was late in his rookie season.

McNabb urged a teammate setting up an appearance on a radio show to be sure he "wore his facemask" there. The comeback line was too little, too late.

Another Eagle walking by McNabb was asked why he was in such a hurry. When the teammate said he was on his way to work out, McNabb loudly said "It's too late now."

Both were defensive guys.

Halfway through the season, you would never know McNabb's Eagles were 3-5 with a difficult road ahead starting this weekend at FedEx Field.

Five, as he's called, was feeling no pain.

In his rookie year he did something so unforgettable it surprised teammates and innocent bystanders.

During a break in his rehab to get back on the field after missing a game with a sprained MCL McNabb decided to circle the entire locker room in the old Veterans Stadium. It was a place where the quarterbacks and the offensive linemen, the receivers and the running backs were up front, the defensive guys in the back.

Now, Randall Cunningham and almost all of the other passers rarely strayed from QB Row. Jim McMahon would take a stroll down Defensive Way every once in a while. The rear was like a tough neighborhood with a history of tension between the offense and the defense.

But McNabb went from locker to locker cracking jokes and acting like one of the guys while some teammates howled. He was clad only in his, uh, you know that thing that protects us guys from - incoming!!!

McNabb owned that locker room.

And this week, job guarantee and wild speculation about his future or not, it looks like he owns the locker room at NovaCare Way.