Has Jeff Garcia created a bigger stink than Terrell Owens stirred up?

Did the backup quarterback do more damage to Philadelphia’s football franchise inadvertently than the former starting wideout did on purpose?

Will the Eagles have a tougher time fumigating the Linc this off-season than they did last off-season?

Will Donovan McNabb have a tougher time recovering from Garcia’s challenge to his leadership than he did recovering from T.O.’ s?

Before the season began would you ever have imagined we’d be asking these questions?

Well, we are. And everybody’s answering them except the guy who matters most.

McNabb wanted to talk, but his coach wouldn’t let him. The Eagles’ starting quarterback scheduled a press conference for last Friday but Andy Reid canceled it.

So reporters scrambled for other sources to find out the truth about rumors that have been swirling for nearly a month.

Those rumors took flight when McNabb’s mother took to the Internet on Dec. 27 and wrote that she feared Garcia’s success might turn fans against her son and spark trade rumors.

She was right on the money.

Fans loved the way Garcia rallied the Eagles to a division title after McNabb went down for the season with a knee injury.

And eventually a rumor surfaced that the Eagles might be thinking about trading McNabb to the Raiders and drafting LSU quarterback JaMarcus Russell.

In Tuesday’s Trenton Times, Mark Eckel claimed some people close to the Eagles said McNabb reportedly was not pleased about being banned from traveling to his team’s playoff game in New Orleans and that he might be getting a vibe that some members of the Eagles preferred Garcia at quarterback.

According to Eckel’s column, “Rumors around the league are growing stronger that Tampa Bay or Minnesota could be landing spots in either a trade for McNabb or a free-agency destination for Garcia.”

On Tuesday’s Tonight Show Garcia sounded like a guy who was resigned to playing elsewhere next season.

“I had a great time in Philadelphia,” said the 36-year-old signal-caller who’ll be a free agent in March.

“I hope something can be worked out there. But I’m definitely gonna test the waters. I’m gonna see what’s out there.”

Those words should have thrown cold water on the hot controversy in Philadelphia.

I took them to mean that it’s highly unlikely Garcia will be back in Philadelphia next season.

Why would he want to return to an Eagles’ nest that has become a hornet’s nest?

Especially since Reid has made it clear that even if Garcia comes back, McNabb will be the team’s starter when he’s healthy enough to return to the lineup.

So Eagle veterans Jeremiah Trotter and Jon Runyan, who reportedly expressed support for Garcia to remain as the starter next season, should zip it up.

And McNabb’s soup-shilling mother should put a lid on it.

And Reid should let Donovan speak for himself.

After all, he’s a 30-year-old veteran who’s weathered more than a few storms in Philly, whose fans booed him the day he was drafted and have been reluctant to give him his due ever since.

He rebounded wonderfully from sports hernia surgery and T.O.’s team-splitting torpedoes a year ago. So he should be plenty strong enough to survive this season’s knee surgery and trade rumors.

It’s a shame he’s been forced to endure another winter of discontent. And it’s understandable that he might be feeling especially vulnerable right now.

But McNabb’s actions always have spoken louder than his words.

So people should stop putting words in his mouth and let him focus on putting together another Super Bowl drive.

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