PHILADELPHIA (AP) – Kurt Warner traded in his clipboard and baseball cap for a helmet, a football and a new uniform.

Frustrated and humbled by injuries and inactivity, the two-time NFL MVP will start his first game since last year’s opener when the New York Giants visit the Philadelphia Eagles on Sunday.

Warner hasn’t won a game since beating the Eagles in the 2001 NFC championship game to send the St. Louis Rams to the Super Bowl. The stakes are much lower this time, but Warner wants to impress his new teammates.

“It’s just exciting to be back on the field,” said Warner, who has lost his last eight starts, including a loss to the New England Patriots in the 2001 Super Bowl. “Physically, I feel great. After not playing much last year, my body feels great. I just want to play at a high level. That’s my goal.”

Warner lost his job to Marc Bulger in St. Louis last season, and signed with the Giants one day after the Rams released him in June. He’s keeping the position warm until heralded rookie Eli Manning takes over.

Warner isn’t ready to relinquish his job, though.

“I’m very confident I can play at the level I’ve played in the past,” he said. “Last year was the hardest thing I had to do, because I knew I could still play at the highest level. It was extremely frustrating as any season I’ve had.”

While the Giants begin their rebuilding process under new coach Tom Coughlin, the three-time NFC East champion Eagles hope to start on a road that will finally take them to the Super Bowl after three straight losses in the conference title game.

They’ve added star wide receiver Terrell Owens to an offense that includes four-time Pro Bowl quarterback Donovan McNabb and running back Brian Westbrook. They brought in premier pass rusher Jevon Kearse, three-time Pro Bowl defensive end Hugh Douglas and linebackers Dhani Jones and Jeremiah Trotter to bolster a defense that lost cornerbacks Troy Vincent, Bobby Taylor and linebacker Carlos Emmons.

Anything less than a trip to the Super Bowl will be considered a failure in a championship-starved city that hasn’t celebrated since the 76ers won the NBA title in 1983.

“It’s not for me to say if I’m the missing link or not, but I definitely know my position on the team,” Owens said. “I’m definitely here to try to win a Super Bowl, and that’s the stand that I’m taking right now. We’re going to take our first step toward that on Sunday.”

The Giants are coming off a 4-12 season in which they lost their last eight games, costing coach Jim Fassel his job. Coughlin, who twice led the Jacksonville Jaguars to the AFC championship game in their first eight seasons, was hired in January, bringing his disciplinarian style to a team he once worked for as an assistant under Bill Parcells.

Coughlin’s task is similar to the one he had when he joined the expansion Jaguars. He has to prepare Manning for the future while leading the Giants back to respectability.

“I missed it a great deal, the players, the daily planning,” Coughlin said about his year away from the game. “I also came away with a renewed energy for the way things are done. I believe in doing things a certain way. I want players around me that share these kind of convictions.”

The Eagles finished 12-4 last year, but again couldn’t take advantage of playing at home in the playoffs, losing 14-3 to the Carolina Panthers in the NFC championship game.

McNabb is focused on getting past that hurdle, but he’ll need Owens to play at his Pro Bowl level and Westbrook to stay healthy. The Eagles have only untested second-year pro Reno Mahe and rookie Thomas Tapeh behind Westbrook after Duce Staley left for Pittsburgh and Correll Buckhalter went down with a season-ending knee injury.

“I just have to step my game up,” McNabb said. “As a quarterback, you want to make sure that you’re doing whatever it takes in the pass game, as well as in the run game, to kind of take a lot of pressure off their shoulders. Where we’re given opportunities to make plays, just make sure we put the guys in great position to be successful.”

The Giants could have Jeremy Shockey back after the Pro Bowl tight end sat out training camp and all four preseason games with an injured foot and hamstring problem. Cornerback Will Allen also is questionable with a knee injury. The heavily favored Eagles don’t have any significant injuries.

AP-ES-09-09-04 2051EDT