- Eagles Notebook: Eagles' Westbrook says ankle is sore, but hopes to play against Chiefs
- Paul Domowitch: Eagles defense knocked over by strong Brees
- Sam Donnellon: Eagles accommodate Saints with special delivery
- John Smallwood: Blame loss to Saints on Eagles defense
- Eagles' Kolb could have used some help, but Saints' Brees didn't need any in win
- Rich Hofmann: Eagles to Kolb: When it's your fault we'll let you know
- Outside the stadium, Eagles tailgaters salvage fun
- Win over Eagles proves Saints are legit
- Groin injury slows explosive Eagles receiver DeSean Jackson
- With or without McNabb, Wildcat wasn't a disruption for Eagles
- Saints again show they can pile up points
- Making Our Grades
- What We Saw
- Eagles Aftermath
- Talking Points
- AROUND THE LEAGUE
- With Cassel, Chiefs outplay Raiders, but squander a win
- Dallas crowd goes home disappointed as Giants pull out win
- Jets keep their word, beat Patriots
- Eagletarian
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Eagles Notebook: Eagles' Westbrook says ankle is sore, but hopes to play against Chiefs
The only thing that could have made yesterdays's oopsfest at Lincoln Financial Field even more special for Eagles fans would have been an injury to a key player.
And sure enough, as the minutes ticked away in the fourth quarter of the Birds' 48-22 loss to the Saints, there sat Brian Westbrook on the little medical table behind the home-team bench, getting his right ankle retaped. Westbrook returned to the game, failed to turn the corner with anything approaching sharpness on a run to the right, and then was back on the table, consulting with head athletic trainer Rick Burkholder.
Afterward, coach Andy Reid said Westbrook had sprained the ankle, the same one that required that unexpected "cleanout" in June. Westbrook was joined in the early-day-ending club by wideout DeSean Jackson, who aggravated his sore groin.
"I think we'll be fine there," Reid said. "We'll find out the next day or 2."
Westbrook was asked if he thought he would be able to play this coming week, when the Eagles host the Chiefs before heading off into their bye.
"I hope so, yes," he said.
A question about whether this was anything like last year's ankle injury, which along with a swelling knee made him a shadow of his normally dominant self much of 2008, found Westbrook more definitive.
"No," he said. "Definitely not."
Westbrook gained 52 yards on 13 carries yesterday, aided by some Wildcat trickery, and caught three passes for 14 yards. His understudy, rookie LeSean McCoy, carried five times for 18 yards and caught four passes for 37 more.
Westbrook described his ankle as "a little sore."
"I think I probably tweaked it a little bit. Probably in the third quarter, at some point. So right now, it's a little tender and sore," he said.
No 'rotation' yet
Except, Andrews ended up on the field yesterday only when he was blocking for David Akers' placekicks. He did not play at right guard, and Andy Reid changed the narrative a little after the game.
Remember, Andrews underwent ACL surgery in January. Back in the spring and summer, when reporters would ask about this, they would be told that though the Birds would be careful with Andrews, the strength of the knee and his confidence in it were not issues.
Players who have undergone ACL surgery will tell you it takes a full year to really feel right. This was an issue for Donovan McNabb in 2007, when he didn't seem to plant his repaired leg real hard, and lo and behold, it is an issue for Andrews.
"I want to make sure that Stacy is able to put that foot in the ground," Reid said. "He's not hurt, but I want to make sure he's able to put that foot in the ground, so I backed off on him a little bit this week. I don't know if it's fatigued or tired or whatever it is, but I went with the other guys."
Andrews said he understands and is not disappointed. On Friday, after confirming to reporters that he was not starting, he couched the issue in terms of technique, saying his late start because of the knee has delayed his progress in learning to set for the pass the way Juan Castillo prefers.
"Max went in there and did a great job, so why not?" he said after the game. "I wasn't disappointed at all."
Team president Joe Banner could probably think of about 40 million reasons why not, that being the dollar figure on Andrews' 6-year free-agent contract.
"I really didn't trust it [in the opener at Carolina], that being my first regular-season game back. I was kind of nervous about it, but I made it through the full game," Andrews said yesterday.
Andrews said his brother, IR'd right tackle Shawn Andrews, "is just focusing on getting his back strong."
He said he didn't know when or whether Shawn was heading out to California to rehab under Dr. Robert Watkins, who operated on Shawn's back last October.
BTW, Winston Justice looked pretty good again at right tackle.
Birdseed
Andy Reid said reserve corner Dimitri Patterson suffered a broken hand and will undergo surgery. That mishap aparently led to one of the five special-teams penalties the Birds took; coordinator Ted Daisher said no one realized Patterson was injured, and when the punt team lined up with 10 players, Joselio Hanson ran out to take Patterson's place, only to be flagged for not being set when the ball was snapped . . . Corner Asante Samuel suffered a stinger when Reggie Bush tried to hurdle him . . . Jason Avant's seven catches for 79 yards and a touchdown (on fourth down) were a career high . . . Akeem Jordan is on a 16-interception pace . . . Rookie Jeremy Maclin caught his first two NFL passes (for 12 yards) and played a little Wildcat quarterback.
So going into yesterday, the story from the Eagles was that Stacy Andrews was going to be part of a three-guard rotation with Nick Cole and Max Jean-Gilles, and that Jean-Gilles would just happen to be the starter in Andrews' place.
