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Donovan McNabb's latest comments are straight out of the T.O. school of public relations.

Said McNabb: “Personally, this is a sign for my teammates … That person you may smile and talk to every day, that same person can talk about you in the media or publicly, or talk to somebody else about how he doesn’t like you or is jealous of you or whatever it might be.

“So again, every individual makes their own decisions. Now for me, it’s time to see how my teammates react to that. We’ve obviously seen how they reacted to it during the season. They wanted him back. So what message does that send to you?”

McNabb is listed at 6-2, 240. But he has never seemed smaller than he does today.

In fairness, he also went on to say some of the right things, that he’s working hard, that he wants everybody to move in a positive direction, yada yada yada. But you can’t hide the vitriol with a few dollops of honey. The damage is done.

Now, of course, we wait to hear what T.O. has to say in response. My guess is he’ll say something like this: “I’m sorry Donovan feels that way. Right now I’m just looking forward to helping whichever team I play for win the Super Bowl. I wish him only the very best.” Why? Because he’s shrewd enough not to cause a problem while he’s shopping for a new job.

In one interview in early February, McNabb has succeeded in doing what most observers thought impossible: He conceded the high road to Terrell Owens.

Adversity tests people. If handed a grade right now, McNabb would get an incomplete, because it’s too hard to say whether this bitter version is the real him, or if he just had a bad day.

There’s still lots of time for McNabb to put this ugly chapter of his career behind him.

If he wants to.

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