Although Eagles' quarterback Donovan McNabb wishes he could have had more time working with the full No. 1 offense during the preseason, he believes the team is ready to roll against the Panthers on Sunday.

"It's tough to try to visualize exactly everything that we can do," he said, "but that makes the whole thing exciting for us."

McNabb knows that there might be some rust for this offense to shake off, and it's his job to pull it all together.

"Everything falls on my shoulders," he said. "It's very important that I make sure that I'm prepared for a game like this."

McNabb was also asked whether he believes wide receiver DeSean Jackson is ready to become one of the premier players at his position.

"It's important that he doesn't look past what he was able to do in the first year," McNabb said. "It's important that we just take it slow.

"We have other guys who've been playing for us who can really make plays too, so you don't want to put pressure on DeSean that he's got to be a 90-catch, 80-catch guy. I believe he can do that, but you don't want to put that pressure on him."

McNabb also assessed the tight end situation. After saying he was excited to bring in a talented veteran like Alex Smith, McNabb described the starter.

"Brent Celek has just continued to improve throughout the off-season as well as up to now," McNabb said. "So we have a lot of confidence in him to get the job done."

Getting a win this Sunday won't be easy for Eagles. One player who will definitely make it as difficult as possible for the Eagles will be Panthers' defensive end Julius Peppers.

"(Peppers) creates so many problems for teams," McNabb said. "He's a guy that's very athletic. He has the size of a defensive tackle, the speed of a linebacker, and he's very strong.

"You can't put a tight end on him one-on-one, and you can't have a running back on him one-on-one ... You always have to focus on where number 90 is."

But perhaps there will be some offensive trickery to get Peppers going the wrong way. Even though Michael Vick isn't eligible to play, McNabb said the team still has the wildcat package ready.

"Absolutely," McNabb said when asked if the package was still an option this Sunday. "I was once Michael Vick."

-- Posted by Bo Wulf, 1:52 p.m., September 9