If Brian Westbrook relies on the advice of the two Pittsburgh concussion experts he saw yesterday, the Eagles' franchise running back seems likely to return to the field, quite possibly this season.

The University of Pittsburgh Medical Center released a statement last night, after Westbrook was examined by Dr. Joseph Maroon and Dr. Michael (Micky) Collins, a neurosurgeon and a neuropsychologist who work closely with Dr. Mark Lovell, director of the center's concussion program and developer of the treatment protocols the NFL uses.

"The UPMC doctors report that Mr. Westbrook's symptoms have improved significantly over the last three days. He was retested today with a battery of neuro-cognitive tests, including ImPACT (Immediate Post-Concussion Assessment and Cognitive Testing), a computerized tool that is used by all NFL teams for evaluating injury recovery. He also underwent comprehensive physical and neurological exam, results of which were favorable," the statement said.

"We are very encouraged by Brian's progress, we believe that he has an excellent prognosis and we expect a full recovery," Maroon and Collins were quoted as saying. "We developed a comprehensive physical rehab plan for Brian, and we will repeat the detailed testing in the next two to three weeks."

Westbrook, 30, first suffered a concussion Oct. 26 at Washington, when he briefly lost consciousness after his head struck the knee of Redskins linebacker London Fletcher. Westbrook returned to action Sunday at San Diego, but left the game after catching a screen pass, bumping teammate Jason Avant as he tried to avoid sprawling guard Stacy Andrews, and stumbling awkwardly into a helmet-to-helmet hit with Chargers safety Eric Weddle.

"At that time, he experienced another much milder concussion which was not related to loss of consciousness but associated only with dizziness and headache," the medical center's statement said.

Eagles coach Andy Reid was questioned at length about Westbrook yesterday during his usual Wednesday news conference, which was held while Westbrook was being tested. Reid said he spoke with Westbrook on Monday "and he was in a good place." Reid said Westbrook was eager to get some answers about dealing with a second concussion and "didn't seem rattled."

Reid was asked whether he thought Sunday's hit would have given Westbrook a concussion regardless of whether he'd suffered one in October.

"I don't know how to analyze that, because you've seen guys take some pretty big hits and come out OK," Reid said. "I will say that it was a unique hit, where you ricochet off of a person. That is not where he wanted to put his body, in the position he ended up. He wanted to go where Jason was, and he was forced into that other area. I can't sit here and determine whether it would've happened. It was a good enough hit to where something could happen there. You don't get into too many of those situations there where he was pinned."

Reid officially announced Westbrook would miss Sunday night's game against the Bears. Obviously, since the statement from the doctors said they would retest in 2 to 3 weeks, Westbrook won't be playing during that time.

Chicago coach Lovie Smith agreed yesterday in a conference call with Philadelphia-area reporters that "our chances are better without Westbrook." If Westbrook being unavailable means the Eagles don't run the ball, "you definitely would like to play a one-dimensional team," Smith said, but he added that he doesn't think that is likely. *