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I mentioned a couple of times to my buddies that I thought Westbrook was ding-donging into the hole. Maybe there was a reason.
Eagles running back Westbrook says he's not 100 percent healthy
By LES BOWEN
Philadelphia Daily News
[email protected]
A HEALTHY Brian Westbrook has always been a huge problem for the Giants. Just last Dec. 9, in the lone 2007 meeting he was able to play in, Westbrook gained 116 yards on 20 carries against New York, and caught five passes for 38 more yards.
That was with Steve Spagnuolo as the Giants' defensive coordinator, and pretty much the same defensive personnel New York fielded for Sunday night's 36-31 victory over the Birds. For his career, going into Sunday, Westbrook had 825 yards on 156 carries against the Giants, 5.3 yards per carry, with seven touchdowns in 11 games. He also had caught 39 passes against them, for 369 yards and four TDs.
So, 13 Westbrook carries for 26 yards Sunday night? Three catches for 33? A total of 2 yards on two crucial cracks at the line, needing 3 yards, with the game hanging in the balance just after the 2-minute warning?
Lots of surprising things happened in that potentially season-defining Eagles loss. The shackling of Westbrook had to be at the top of the list. If you were worried about how the Eagles' offense would fare going in, you probably were concerned about Donovan McNabb getting sacked a dozen times again. New York managed no sacks (though McNabb danced out of a couple). The Giants can't sack McNabb, but they can stonewall Westbrook? Since when?
Andy Reid raised a NovaCare auditorium audience eyebrow or two when he responded yesterday to a question about Westbrook's health with this: "I'm not going to say he's 100 percent, but at the same time, he's good enough to where he can be effective as long as we take care of business up front."
The recent impression of reporters covering the team has held that Westbrook was very close to 100 percent, after having been limited earlier in the season by rib and ankle injuries, and experiencing a little knee swelling the first few days after the Seattle victory last week. In the Oct. 26 victory over Atlanta, Westbrook ran for 167 yards on 22 carries and caught six passes for 42 yards. His health ceased to be a public issue then.
But here we are after nine games, and Westbrook ranks 32nd in the league with 655 yards from scrimmage; he has 8 total yards fewer than a teammate, rookie wideout DeSean Jackson, who has been the Birds' most explosive weapon this season. In 2007, Westbrook led the league and set a franchise record with 2,104 yards from scrimmage.
"It's tough to say what your percentage of health is," Westbrook said when asked about Reid's assessment during Westbrook's ESPN 950-AM radio show last night. "As a player, you go into every game ready to play, but of course, you're never going to be quite 100 percent during the season. Once you get injured once in the football season, it takes a long time to get completely healthy. For me, I'm still fighting the injury bug, tying to get completely healthy . . .
"There's no question I'm not 100 percent. My goal is to be out there and try to help this team. I want to be out there until coach feels I'm not able to help this team anymore. I think I'm still able to help this team win football games."
Westbrook said the biggest problem Sunday was the offense's inability to get into a rhythm early; the Birds never really established the run.
But when cohost Brian Seltzer pressed Westbrook about the status of his afflictions, Westbrook said: "The thing about a high-ankle sprain is that it doesn't go away very quickly . . . throughout a game, at any point, it can come right back, and that pain can come right back."
Reid emphasized failures of scheme and blocking, rather than any falloff in Westbrook's performance.
"You have different schemes for different defenses, and you just have to make sure that everybody is on the same page with it, and get bodies on bodies," Reid said. "With Brian Westbrook, if you can get a body on a body, normally the rest will take care of itself."
Westbrook said last night that "the running game has to get better, and I'll put that blame squarely on my shoulders. I have to get better, I have to find a way to find more holes. You'll get more attempts if you have more success."
It was hard to see how Westbrook could have done anything differently on the third- and fourth-down plays that sealed the Eagles' fate. On third down, the Birds ran a toss sweep to the right, and there clearly were problems with more than one blocking assignment. As Westbrook lunged for the corner, he was met by defensive backs Aaron Ross, Terrell Thomas and Michael Johnson. He did well to gain 2 yards.
On fourth down, the Eagles tried the right side again, with the Giants stacked to stop them and leaning toward that side. Westbrook still probably would have picked up the first down if Max Jean-Gilles had picked up linebacker Chase Blackburn, who crossed the formation and shot the gap between Jean-Gilles and Jon Runyan. Instead, Jean-Gilles joined center Jamaal Jackson in a double-team of defensive tackle Fred Robbins. Blackburn, untouched, met Westbrook in the backfield.
"The one on fourth down should have actually hit, and could have been big," left guard Todd Herremans said yesterday. "One assignment here and one assignment there; we're just one block away from a lot of things. A lot of good things."
Right tackle Runyan said the Eagles running problems are "a matter of covering guys up, What it comes down to is the basics, all the time."
Reid gathered the team yesterday to watch film of the loss. Asked the coach's message, Westbrook said: "The season's not over. We still have seven games left in our regular season. We still have the opportunity to play these teams we've lost to in the NFC East, one more time." *
For more Eagles coverage and opinion, read
the Daily News' Eagles blog, Eagletarian, at http://www.eagletarian.com.
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Eagles running back Westbrook says he's not 100 percent healthy
By LES BOWEN
Philadelphia Daily News
[email protected]
A HEALTHY Brian Westbrook has always been a huge problem for the Giants. Just last Dec. 9, in the lone 2007 meeting he was able to play in, Westbrook gained 116 yards on 20 carries against New York, and caught five passes for 38 more yards.
That was with Steve Spagnuolo as the Giants' defensive coordinator, and pretty much the same defensive personnel New York fielded for Sunday night's 36-31 victory over the Birds. For his career, going into Sunday, Westbrook had 825 yards on 156 carries against the Giants, 5.3 yards per carry, with seven touchdowns in 11 games. He also had caught 39 passes against them, for 369 yards and four TDs.
So, 13 Westbrook carries for 26 yards Sunday night? Three catches for 33? A total of 2 yards on two crucial cracks at the line, needing 3 yards, with the game hanging in the balance just after the 2-minute warning?
Lots of surprising things happened in that potentially season-defining Eagles loss. The shackling of Westbrook had to be at the top of the list. If you were worried about how the Eagles' offense would fare going in, you probably were concerned about Donovan McNabb getting sacked a dozen times again. New York managed no sacks (though McNabb danced out of a couple). The Giants can't sack McNabb, but they can stonewall Westbrook? Since when?
Andy Reid raised a NovaCare auditorium audience eyebrow or two when he responded yesterday to a question about Westbrook's health with this: "I'm not going to say he's 100 percent, but at the same time, he's good enough to where he can be effective as long as we take care of business up front."
The recent impression of reporters covering the team has held that Westbrook was very close to 100 percent, after having been limited earlier in the season by rib and ankle injuries, and experiencing a little knee swelling the first few days after the Seattle victory last week. In the Oct. 26 victory over Atlanta, Westbrook ran for 167 yards on 22 carries and caught six passes for 42 yards. His health ceased to be a public issue then.
But here we are after nine games, and Westbrook ranks 32nd in the league with 655 yards from scrimmage; he has 8 total yards fewer than a teammate, rookie wideout DeSean Jackson, who has been the Birds' most explosive weapon this season. In 2007, Westbrook led the league and set a franchise record with 2,104 yards from scrimmage.
"It's tough to say what your percentage of health is," Westbrook said when asked about Reid's assessment during Westbrook's ESPN 950-AM radio show last night. "As a player, you go into every game ready to play, but of course, you're never going to be quite 100 percent during the season. Once you get injured once in the football season, it takes a long time to get completely healthy. For me, I'm still fighting the injury bug, tying to get completely healthy . . .
"There's no question I'm not 100 percent. My goal is to be out there and try to help this team. I want to be out there until coach feels I'm not able to help this team anymore. I think I'm still able to help this team win football games."
Westbrook said the biggest problem Sunday was the offense's inability to get into a rhythm early; the Birds never really established the run.
But when cohost Brian Seltzer pressed Westbrook about the status of his afflictions, Westbrook said: "The thing about a high-ankle sprain is that it doesn't go away very quickly . . . throughout a game, at any point, it can come right back, and that pain can come right back."
Reid emphasized failures of scheme and blocking, rather than any falloff in Westbrook's performance.
"You have different schemes for different defenses, and you just have to make sure that everybody is on the same page with it, and get bodies on bodies," Reid said. "With Brian Westbrook, if you can get a body on a body, normally the rest will take care of itself."
Westbrook said last night that "the running game has to get better, and I'll put that blame squarely on my shoulders. I have to get better, I have to find a way to find more holes. You'll get more attempts if you have more success."
It was hard to see how Westbrook could have done anything differently on the third- and fourth-down plays that sealed the Eagles' fate. On third down, the Birds ran a toss sweep to the right, and there clearly were problems with more than one blocking assignment. As Westbrook lunged for the corner, he was met by defensive backs Aaron Ross, Terrell Thomas and Michael Johnson. He did well to gain 2 yards.
On fourth down, the Eagles tried the right side again, with the Giants stacked to stop them and leaning toward that side. Westbrook still probably would have picked up the first down if Max Jean-Gilles had picked up linebacker Chase Blackburn, who crossed the formation and shot the gap between Jean-Gilles and Jon Runyan. Instead, Jean-Gilles joined center Jamaal Jackson in a double-team of defensive tackle Fred Robbins. Blackburn, untouched, met Westbrook in the backfield.
"The one on fourth down should have actually hit, and could have been big," left guard Todd Herremans said yesterday. "One assignment here and one assignment there; we're just one block away from a lot of things. A lot of good things."
Right tackle Runyan said the Eagles running problems are "a matter of covering guys up, What it comes down to is the basics, all the time."
Reid gathered the team yesterday to watch film of the loss. Asked the coach's message, Westbrook said: "The season's not over. We still have seven games left in our regular season. We still have the opportunity to play these teams we've lost to in the NFC East, one more time." *
For more Eagles coverage and opinion, read
the Daily News' Eagles blog, Eagletarian, at http://www.eagletarian.com.
Buzz up!Buzz this story.
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