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Still recovering mentally and physically from the most difficult season of his NFL career, Donovan McNabb said Tuesday afternoon that his rehabilitation from sports hernia surgery is "going great" and that he expects to participate in the team's offseason program.

McNabb tore his groin against the Cowboys -- his last game of the season before surgery.

"I've been rehabilitating for the last four to six weeks and I've taken big strides," said McNabb, after making a promotional appearance in conjunction with Super Bowl week. "The good thing about this is that we have some time. I don't have to rush things. So it's just a matter of going through the process. [But] it should be fine."

As noted in last Sunday's Fantasy Notebook, the star signal caller underwent surgery on Nov. 28. He was off his feet for three weeks following the procedure and has been rehabilitating ever since at the team's facilities. At some point in the next few weeks, McNabb said, he will go to Arizona, where he usually spends his offseasons, and continue his recovery there.

According to the Associated Press, McNabb, 29, looked fit during an appearance that also featured Pittsburgh running back Jerome Bettis and the mothers of the two players. Notable, though, is that McNabb did not run onto the stage area when he was introduced, as did the others.

He walked out slowly, but seemed to move well while participating in some of the "competitions" that were a part of the promotion.

In what was an injury-plagued season, McNabb appeared in only nine games in 2005, and completed 211 of 357 passes for 2,507 yards, with 16 touchdown passes, nine interceptions and an efficiency rating of 85.0. It is believed he first sustained the sports hernia injury in training camp and the injury grew progressively worse.

The last appearance for McNabb in 2005 was the Monday night home loss to Dallas on Nov. 14, a game in which he was blocked to the ground by Cowboys linebacker Bradie James as safety Roy Williams returned an interception for the game-winning touchdown. Shortly after that, McNair was placed on injured reserve and then he had the surgery two weeks later.

"That was the game where I just couldn't do it anymore," McNabb said. "There is a difference between being injured and being hurt and, in that game, I was hurt. I tore four tendons in my groin. I always felt like nothing could stop me from achieving my goals, but that injury did."

McNabb emphasized he is ready to resume his role as the Eagles' leader and help the club rebound from a dismal 6-10 record. Philadelphia finished last in the NFC East in 2005 after winning the division the four previous seasons and advancing to Super Bowl XXXIX in 2004.

"We all know what happened [last year]," McNabb said. "Individually, it's my role to establish with my teammates that I'm around and I'm working hard. But it's going to take all of us understanding what happened to us last year to get [back on track]."

That was on Tuesday. ... Things got much more interesting on Wednesday, when McNabb went after Terrell Owens, injecting an element of race into his rift with the mercurial receiver by characterizing Owens' criticism as "black-on-black crime."

In an interview with ESPN.com senior writer Michael Smith, McNabb rehashed some of the low moments of his relationship with his teammate, making fun of Owens' driveway apology and bringing up the race angle.

In November, responding to a question during an ESPN interview, Owens said Philadelphia would likely be in a better situation if Brett Favre was the quarterback instead of the banged-up McNabb.

"It was like, it's unreal," McNabb said. "That's like me going out and saying, 'Hey, if we had Steve Largent. If we had Joe Jurevicius. It was definitely a slap in the face to me. It was a slap in the face because, as deep as people want to go into it, it was black-on-black crime."

Not long after that, an NAACP leader criticized McNabb for "playing the race card" in explaining why he didn't run the ball as often as he used to.

In November, the Eagles suspended Owens for the remainder of the season for his repeated criticism of the team, McNabb and several other issues. The team recently gave Owens permission to seek a trade, and this week he visited the Denver Broncos.

On Wednesday, McNabb brought up some of the criticism he had taken through his career, and said Owens was simply piling on with his statement.

"It's different to say, 'If we had Michael Vick or Daunte Culpepper or Steve McNair or Aaron Brooks or Byron Leftwich," McNabb said of five black starting quarterbacks. "But to go straight to Brett Favre, that kind of just slapped me in the face like, 'Wow ..."'

McNabb has his theory as to the motives that inspired Owens' behavior, which eventually led the Eagles to suspend/deactivate the All-Pro receiver for the final nine games of the season.

"It was money and power," he told Smith. "Obviously, with the whole money situation I have no control over that. That's between that individual and the organization. And the whole power situation of being the face of the team or the recognizable guy.

"If it's that he was trying to outdo me or outdo the organization, whatever, that's what I felt led to what's been going on."

Owens apologized twice publicly -- once after his preseason holdout and then again, in his driveway, after he was suspended.

"The first apology, that was to the organization," McNabb said. "Then, I was thrown in there -- 'If I offended Donovan in any way' -- you know. Instead of that, you could have just told me, hey, I apologize for the way it came out. I didn't mean it that way. Just come talk to me."

Asked about reports that Owens visited the Broncos and head coach Mike Shanahan on Monday, McNabb called the veteran wideout "a great player. If he goes [to Denver], the people there should be excited."

But when asked what kind of advice he might provide Jake Plummer if Denver was to acquire Owens in a trade or perhaps in free agency, McNabb said any such counsel would remain between he and the Broncos' quarterback. ...

Meanwhile, the Delaware County Times reported this morning that at least two other teams -- one in the NFC and another in the AFC, sources said -- also are seriously interested in Owens.

Nonetheless the Broncos are "very, very much" in the hunt for Owens, sources that spoke on condition of anonymity told Times staffer Bob Grotz. The Cowboys and Buccaneers, plus the Jets and the Dolphins of the AFC all have expressed interest in Owens according to sources.

While they don't seem to be interested in trading for him, Chiefs president/general manager Carl Peterson told the Kansas City Star on Tuesday that the Chiefs are "somewhat interested" in Owens. Peterson added that he planned to have an in-depth conversation with new head coach Herman Edwards about the possibility of acquiring the five-time Pro Bowler.

Two things have apparently piqued the Chiefs' interest -- the hope of a possible attitude makeover after Owens' suspension by the Eagles, and Edwards' success in working with difficult players.

The Chiefs probably will wait to see whether Owens is cut. A source familiar with the situation told the Star that an incentive-laden, one-year deal would be a possibility. ...

And in the latest twist in this ongoing, Sports Illustrated insider Peter King, reporting Wednesday night on HBO's "Inside the NFL," advised viewers that another suitor -- the Redskins -- are ready to jump into the Owens' fray.

Despite the denials already emanating from Redskins headquarters, King didn't hesitate to single out Washington as an early favorite to land Owens, based on owner Daniel Snyder's love for collecting "trophies. ..."

And finally. ... Asked during a Wednesday afternoon appearance on ESPN's "NFL Live" what he had to say to those interested in Owens, McNabb's reply was a simple, "Good luck."