Shanahan explains McNabb benching

Mike Shanahan changed his story in a hurry. The new explanation: Donovan McNabb was benched more because of his body, not his brain.

Less than 24 hours after declaring he yanked McNabb because of a “gut feel” relating to the quarterback's less-than-full competence in the offense, the Washington Redskins coach instead insisted Monday it was a pre-planned move that had more to do with “cardiovascular endurance” issues.

McNabb, because of nagging hamstring and groin injuries, wasn't in good enough shape to run a two-minute offense with no timeouts according to Shanahan.

“The cardiovascular endurance that it takes to run a two-minute, going all the way down with no timeouts, calling plays, it's just not easy.” Shanahan said. “If I thought it was the best situation to do, then Donovan would have run the two-minute offense.”

Somewhere in between the range of explanations is the cold fact: McNabb, who turns 34 this month, is not having a very good season.

The change of message by a coach with two Super Bowl titles made for a baffling day at Redskins Park, nearly eclipsing the stunning decision to sit McNabb in the first place.

With the Redskins trailing the Detroit Lions by six with 1:50 to play, Shanahan pulled McNabb in favor of Rex Grossman. It didn't work. The backup's first snap of the season turned into a touchdown for the other team, with Grossman fumbling the ball on a blindside sack and Ndamukong Suh returning it for the score.

Detroit won 37-25, leaving the Redskins (4-4) at .500 and still competitive in the NFC East as they enter their bye week assuming they can figure out what's happening between coach and quarterback.

After the game, Shanahan justified the move by citing the complexities of the two-minute offense. The game speeds up. Multiple plays have to be called at the line of scrimmage. It all has “to come automatically,” the coach said. Grossman spent last season in this same offense under offensive coordinator Kyle Shanahan both were with the Houston Texans although Grossman was a rarely used backup who didn't run the two-minute offense in a regular season game.

Teammates could hardly believe it.

“For him to be pulled like that, it's definitely a shocker to a lot of us,” cornerback DeAngelo Hall said. “It does raise the interesting point: After the season, will he be here or not?”

Quarterback quandary:

Cleveland coach Eric Mangini did little to clear up his quarterback quandary on Monday, saying he has not yet decided on his starter for Sunday when the Browns (2-5) host the New England Patriots (6-1). Mangini did not provide any clues if he's leaning toward either Colt McCoy, Jake Delhomme or Seneca Wallace, and restated that his final choice will be based on the player that gives his team the best opportunity to succeed.

“We're playing to win the games,” he said.

Bills getting better:

First, the Buffalo Bills couldn't win in regulation. Now, they're losing in overtime.

As “horrible” as linebacker Paul Posluszny acknowledged he felt about the team's 0-7 record on Monday, he regards back-to-back OT losses as progress in a season in which very little has gone right for Buffalo.

“It's horrible to think we're the only winless team in the NFL. No one wants to be able to say that you're part of that. But that's the reality,” Posluszny said. “But each week, man, we're getting a step closer. You can't get any closer than where we're at.”

Any sign of hope will do for the Bills, who are attempting to remain upbeat despite getting off to their worst start in 26 years.

Their latest oh-so-close chance at victory came in a 13-10 overtime loss at Kansas City on Sunday in a game decided by Ryan Succop's a 35-yard field goal as time expired. And it came a week after a 37-34 overtime loss at Baltimore, making Buffalo only the 12th NFL team to lose in OT on consecutive weekends.

Dreadful as that might sound, there's renewed hope among the Bills that a turnaround might just be around the corner and who knows, potentially on Sunday, when they play “host” to the Bears (4-3) in a game at Toronto.

“That's kind of what we keep telling each other,” quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick said. “We need to get over the hump, get one win, and then we think things will start rolling and bouncing in our direction.”

Peyton's deal will wait:

Jim Irsay insists Peyton Manning will be the NFL's highest-paid player next season. He'll just have to wait until after this season to close the deal.

The Colts owner said Monday he was prepared to make a contract offer to Manning during the team's off week, but Manning and his agent wanted to wait until after the season.

“Any negotiation is a two-way street and we were ready to roll and we had a proposal, but they wanted to wait,” Irsay said. “That's OK because every player is different. We had a bye week, and we thought we could have gotten (negotiations) rolling.”