With the fate of the Philadelphia Eagles' season resting on Jim McMahon's sometimes fragile shoulders, his teammates view him as the quarterback who led the Chicago Bears to a Super Bowl victory.
They've managed to put out of their minds his history of injuries and the layer of rust he will need to shed as Randall Cunningham's replacement."Randall was our meal ticket before and now Jim is our meal ticket," tackle Cecil Gray said. "It's the same meal, just a different ticket.
"I'm just glad we've got Jim. He's been there (the Super Bowl) before and he can get us there again. When a quarterback has confidence, you have confidence in him too."
McMahon, signed as an insurance policy last year, began paying dividends Sunday when he replaced Cunningham and led the Eagles to a 20-3 victory over the Green Bay Packers, completing 17 of 25 passes for 257 yards and a pair of touchdowns.
With Cunningham out for the rest of the season with a pair of torn ligaments in his left knee, McMahon must now avoid the kind of injuries that have hit him in each of the last eight years.
McMahon, who attempted only nine passes last year, last played regularly in 1989, when he started 11 games for the San Diego Chargers.
He missed 36 regular-season games between 1984 and 1988 because of a variety of injuries and he sat out two exhibition contests this year because of a sprained right knee and right ankle.
He also lacks Cunningham's arm strength, and figures to rely more on a short passing game, and he doesn't have Cunningham's mobility.
"Randall is a great player and he makes the offense go to a higher level," running back Keith Byars said. "But Jim can operate the offense."
If McMahon goes down, the Eagles will have to turn to journeyman Pat Ryan, who was signed this week to serve as the No. 2 quarterback after being out of football for more than a year.