Philadelphia ? When a door to the auditorium of the Eagles practice facility suddenly flew open, a startled Donovan McNabb could have been excused for thinking it was some familiar hot air – not a brisk wind – that was the culprit.

“Somebody’s trying to get back in here,” a smiling McNabb said Thursday.

While supernatural terror likely won’t be added to the lengthy list of ways Terrell Owens tormented the Eagles, a mellow McNabb was relieved and ready to put the T.O. era behind him.

Speaking for the first time since Owens was booted off the team for his constant criticism of the Eagles – specifically McNabb – the Pro Bowl quarterback said the team was ready to focus only on football and not the distractions that have swirled since shortly after the Super Bowl.

“It’s unfortunate that the end result was with him not being able to get on the football field with us, but you have to move on,” McNabb said. “Some things in life that you’re a part of just don’t go as well as you want them to.”

Certainly Owens’ tumultuous stint in Philadelphia was one of them.

While Owens was McNabb’s favorite receiver on the field, Owens made McNabb his top target off it, firing one often puzzling criticism after another toward the quarterback until it cost him his roster spot.

Owens started the friction in April when he took a shot at McNabb, saying he “wasn’t the guy who got tired in the Super Bowl,” then called him a “hypocrite” during training camp and finished it off by saying the Eagles would be better off with Green Bay’s Brett Favre.

McNabb publicly took the high road, trying to diffuse the situation with humor, though he warned Owens to keep his name out of his mouth. Apparently, Owens wasn’t listening or didn’t care.

“You’ve never heard me say anything bad about him,” McNabb said. “You’ve never heard me say anything bad about the situation. I just continued to put that behind me and tried to move on.”

Now the only one truly moving on is Owens.

Safety Brian Dawkins, who tried to act as a mediator between the two, called Owens a good teammate and hard worker who simply let his outlandish comments overshadow his clutch catches.

“Those are things you don’t understand and can’t sweep under the rug,” Dawkins said.

Owens didn’t play in Sunday night’s 17-10 loss at Washington, and will remain suspended for three more games without pay. After that, the Eagles plan to deactivate him for the rest of the season.

Owens, thrown off the Eagles on Monday, had 20 touchdowns in 21 regular-season games with Philadelphia.

Coach Andy Reid – who dismissed Owens because of “a large number of situations that accumulated over a long period of time” – said all the attention was tiring but there was “no excuse” for the way the Eagles have slumped to a 4-4 record.

A contrite Owens pleaded for another chance in a public apology Tuesday, but the team was unmoved. Owens’ agent, Drew Rosenhaus, said he wanted his client to play immediately.