Westbrook to Play Against Chargers

Although starting RB Brian Westbrook wasn’t able to play in the Eagles’ last two games, it has been made clear that he will indeed suit up for tomorrow’s, against the San Diego Chargers. Throughout this week’s practice, the 8th-year veteran said that he was feeling good, and in a recent press conference, head coach Andy Reid refused to list the RB under a league injury term such as “probable, questionable, doubtful or out” and instead said “[He's] playing,”. Now, Reid has a tendency to express a lot of optimism regarding his players’ injuries, but that brief statement basically closed the case.

Westbrook (pictured) sustained a concussion several weeks ago while playing versus the rival Washington Redskins, and was always regarded as “improving” as the games went on, but the offensive weapon wasn’t able to rid of post-concussion symptoms and headaches, at least enough that he would be able to play without significant pain. Therefore, he was absent from the last pair of contests, but, as explained in the start of the article, is set to play tomorrow.

“He looked like he had a little bounce in his step here the last couple of days. I [have been] hesitant to put him on the [practice field] for the [past two days],” said Reid. “But we rotated a little bit…He took a lot of reps [Thursday] and he had a lot of bounce and he came out feeling good and [having] no problems.” Despite the return of Westbrook to the lineup, Reid confirmed that rookie backup LeSean McCoy will continue to see the ball as a relief player: “[Brian will] continue to rotate and we’ll just see how he does. I’m not going to just throw him in for the whole game…LeSean has done a nice job when he’s been called on, so that gives us some flexibility.”

No matter how much the Eagles choose to utilize Westbrook against San Diego, his presence on the field is a definite boost of the offense’s ability, and it’s great knowing the explosive rusher will have a chance at getting back on track on Sunday.