Westbrook will sit vs. Cowboys
The Philadelphia Daily News - Eagletarian
Westbrook will sit vs. Cowboys
Daily News staff and Les Bowen
UPDATED: Brian Westbrook will not play tonight vs. Dallas.
The Eagles released a statement from head athletic trainer Rick Burkholder, regarding Brian Westbrook's condition moments ago. It reads:
"On Friday afternoon Brian began experiencing symptoms of a mild headache. From that point forward, we had Brian re-evaluated by (team internist) Dr. Gary Dorshimer and we put him through extensive testing. Even though those tests were determined to be negative, we all thought it would be in the best interests of Brian and the team that he should be deactivated for tonight's game. We will continue to evaluate Brian this week"
Also, linebacker Chris Gocong is inactive with hamstring and quad injuries, suffered against the Giants. Rookie Moise Fokou will start in his place.
The other inactives: Kevin Curtis, Victor Abiamiri, Max Jean-Gilles, Mike McGlynn, Dmitri Patterson and P.J. Hill.
All three quarterbacks are active.
Earlier:
Eagles running back Brian Westbrook is not expected to play tonight against Dallas, ESPN's Adam Schefter is reporting, citing two league sources. ESPN said a team spokesman was noncommital; the team spokesman told the Daily News that the Westbrook information "isn't coming from us" and that Westbrook's status will be updated about 90 minutes before gametime, when the inactives are announced.
Westbrook missed last week's game against the Giants after suffering a concussion the previous Monday against Washington. Westbook practiced Wednesday and Thursday, but was held out Friday.
Coach Andy Reid said Friday that Westbrook had not suffered any setbacks after taking most of the reps on consecutive days. Reid said Westbrook sat to give rookie running back LeSean McCoy some first-team practice reps. Reid also said Westbrook was not having headaches. Nonetheless, the team listed Westbrook as "questionable" for tonight's game, which raised faint alarm bells..
If Westbrook indeed does not play, you have to wonder if some sort of setback did occur between Thursday and Friday, despite Reid's denial. Westbrook's agent, Todd France, did not respond to requests for comment from the Daily News Sunday.
The Eagles host the Dallas Cowboys tonight in an NFC East showdown with first place on the line.
Look for updates here on Eagletarian throughout the game, but let's get started with our staff predictions, key matchups and more.
STAFF PREDICTIONS
Les Bowen: Eagles, 28-23
Ed Barkowitz: Eagles, 27-21
Bill Conlin: Eagles, 24-17
Paul Domowitch: Eagles, 31-20
Marcus Hayes: Eagles, 24-20
Mike Kern: Eagles, 27-20
Vegas Vic: Eagles, 30-24
VIEW FROM DALLAS
Here are the selections of the football writers from the Dallas Morning News:
Todd Archer: Eagles, 35-30
Tim Colishaw: Cowboys, 26-21
Gerry Fraley: Cowboys, 27-24
Rick Gosselin: Eagles, 27-24
Bill Nichols: Cowboys, 24-21
David Moore: Eagles, 34-31
Kevin Sherrington: Eagles, 24-21
Jean Jacques Taylor: Eagles, 38-28
SUNDAY NIGHT VIEWS
If you are looking for trends, the Eagles are 0-6 since NBC took over the Sunday night football package. The Cowboys are 8-2, incuding a loss to the Giants earlier this season.
Rodney Harrison on who will win: "I like the Eagles. This is the Dallas Cowboys biggest test yet, especially Tony Romo. He's going to see a host of blitzes. They're going to disguise coverage and come from all over the place. They're going to try and pressure and knock him in the mouth."
Tony Dungy on the NFC East's best team: "I like Philadelphia because I think Dallas still has some weaknesses in the secondary. You can see a ton of big plays from Philly's receivers this week."
DOMO'S KEY MATCHUPS
1. Eagles LT Jason Peters vs. Cowboys LB DeMarcus Ware: Ware will line up on both ends, but probably will spend the majority of time on Peters' side. He's one of the league best pass rushers. Peters has been up and down. He gave up both of the Eagles' sacks last week. Advantage: Cowboys
2. Eagles WRs DeSean Jackson and Jeremy Maclin vs. Cowboys CBs Terence Newman and Mike Jenkins: Newman and Jenkins are good corners, but they're going to need help from their pass rush to neutralize the two young speedsters. Advantage: Eagles
3. Eagles FS Sean Jones vs. Cowboys TE Jason Witten: One of the main reasons Jones has replaced Macho Harris is because of the problems the Eagles have been having vs. opposing TEs. Witten's got 37 catches, but just one TD. Advantage: Cowboys
I would like to see us try to run the ball and generate some long drives that wear out the opposing defenders. I know most of our scoring have come on drives of 4 plays or less, but our defense is going to need to be fresh to shut down the cowboys offense.— The Reddgie- Redd - That would be nice, but it's simply not the Eagles' m.o. We're a big play, quick strike offense, and that's why you see so much rotation on D - to remain fresh and get those takeaways we lead the league in. Both sides of the ball, the Iggles are big play oriented. And very exciting to watch. Philly 38 - D 20.— IgglesEditor
- The Eagles need to score early to force Romo to throw the ball. They can afford to let the Cowgirls to run the ball too much. They have three good RBs. I believe they avg. 5 yards per carry.— EL Zorro
- Westbrook should retire.— p-diddy
- westbrook will eat your babies— jerseyphanatic17
Comment removed.- Too many injuries, it's a short season, he should play. If he can't then he should retire.— boasocal
- I hate to day it but it is time for B-West to hang em up. He can only play a game or two in a row and then sits for two or three. This does not allow development or continuity for the team. Unless he can really get to where he can play each game, his health is much too important for him to continue.— psuwelsh
- i do not like the cowpokes.i don't care about the score,as long as the birds win.a high school team could beat em and i wouldn't care,as long as they lose.i do like the television system that they have at their stadium.looks like u could see pluto with that monster.back to the cowgirls........i hope the eagles run them in the ground,then pass on them all game. win and alls well till we see em again...........then, whip em again.!!— t_darb_56
- Retire and save yourself for your life after footabll.. Next year we will need to draft another RB to go with Shady. Our future looks great though and we need linebackers! F Dallas!— fman727
EAGLES ALL THE WAY COWBOYS SUX— texasmade- this is pro football and people pay to see the team at its best. so if reid says he's a go on wednesday - AND NOTHING HAS CHANGED - then he should be playing. westbrook shouldn't retire, he should play!— mosquito killer
- "If Westbrook indeed does not play, you have to wonder if some sort of setback did occur between Thursday and Friday, despite Reid's denial." Or you have to wonder if they were just making the Cowboys prepare for Westbrook even though they knew he wouldn't play. You writers are slow learners.— JimG
- Not much...— starbird
- Iggles: at some point, we are going to have to be able to control the ball and keep the other team's offense on their sideline. Rotation or not, we need to make sure our D is not on the field for 40+ minutes a game. Scoring quickly can result in that adverse side effect.— The Reddgie
