Bob Ford: Westbrook's reality has been losing touches

The game against the Raiders last week had reached its final minutes and the costumed customers in Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum shook their plastic weapons and growled their meanest growls as Donovan McNabb took a shotgun snap and searched the stage for a redemptive exit.

On the sideline, Brian Westbrook watched the play along with the others. His chinstrap was still snapped in place, but he wasn't on the field for this third-down play that would end with McNabb scrambling for a few yards. One play later, a harried McNabb would underthrow DeSean Jackson and the Eagles were finished.

As often as not, Westbrook wasn't in the game during its most important stretches. Andy Reid would say that the running back was gimpy by halftime and needed to be used sparingly after that. Rookie LeSean McCoy, as he has all season, took away some of Westbrook's rushing touches, and Reid's pass-heavy play-calling removed most of the rest.

Tonight, as Westbrook returns home to suburban Washington to play the Redskins on Monday Night Football, he is quickly becoming an afterthought in the offense. Just two years after leading the NFL in total yards, and as he stands on the brink of setting franchise records that may never be broken, Westbrook's career arc has taken a sharp downward turn.

"I think I can play," Westbrook said this week. "I think I can make some plays when I have the ball in my hands. It's very hard to show people what you can do when you don't have the opportunities. I think as the season goes on I will get those opportunities, and when I do, I think I will show people that I can still play."

It is hard to know if Reid and offensive coordinator Marty Mornhinweg agree. The team drafted McCoy with an obvious purpose, and Westbrook, who turned 30 in September, continues to battle chronic knee pain and nagging ankle injuries. He didn't play a snap of the exhibition games, and has already been inactive for one game this season.

Reid has been careful in how Westbrook has been used so far, and it might be that the running back will get healthier and sturdier as the season progresses.

"There is a fine line there . . . we are trying to find where we're not taking steps back that next week," Reid said.

Still, it has been a sudden change for Westbrook. He gained 2,104 total yards from scrimmage in 15 games in 2007, saw that number dip to 1,338 yards in 14 games in 2008, and is on a pace to gain just 1,177 in 15 games this season.

In 2007, Westbrook had 278 carries and 90 receptions, 368 touches from scrimmage. This season, if he stays on his current pace, he will have 142 rushes and 63 receptions, 205 touches, a 44 percent reduction in just two years.

The question, and it is a good one, is whether this is being done for Westbrook's own good, to keep him healthy enough to contribute at all. While Reid is criticized for having an unbalanced offense (54 passes and 12 runs called against Oakland), it might be that he doesn't trust the fumble-prone McCoy yet, isn't impressed with Leonard Weaver, and doesn't want to beat up Westbrook.

"It's frustrating because you want to be able to help the team," Westbrook said. "I'm a positive person. I'm always thinking the next series I'll get the ball, the next play I'll touch it. . . . I really don't get too down during the game. Of course, after the game you look at the stats, you look at production . . . you kind of say, 'Wow.' "

Westbrook may be paying the price now for having been overused from 2006 through 2008, when he had 751 of his 1,285 career carries, nearly 60 percent of his eight-season total, and compiled 17 of his 20 hundred-yard games. Those productive seasons took a toll on his legs, even as they pushed him up the all-time leaderboards for the franchise.

He passed Harold Carmichael last season for most yards from scrimmage in Eagles history, and needs an additional 634 rushing yards to move past Wilbert Montgomery. With just 29 more touches, he surpasses Montgomery in that category as well. Not that long ago, he might have needed just one game to approach that number, but probably not any longer.

"I think I can carry the load. I think I have the ability to go out there and touch the ball 20, 25 times a game," Westbrook said. "I haven't had the opportunity yet, so you don't really know for sure."

What he knows is that he has already made history with this franchise, and that his name will stay in its record books. As he returns home tonight, a 30-year-old with aching legs halfway in and halfway out of an offense morphing into something new, what he doesn't know is how much additional history he will make.

Brian Westbrook's Declining Numbers

Season   Rushing   Receiving   Total   Touches   

2007 (15 games)   1,333   771   2,104   368

2008 (14 games)   936   402   1,338   287

2009 (15 games*)   690   487   1,177   205

*Projected numbers

RUSHING YARDS

Wilbert Montgomery 6,538

Westbrook 5,905

Steve Van Buren 5,860

TOUCHES

Montgomery 1,731

Westbrook 1,703

SCRIMMAGE YARDS

Westbrook 9,644

Harold Carmichael 9,042