IS TAKING DOC TO SEE THE DOC
Eagles running back Brian Westbrook is "ready to roll," Eagles coach Andy Reid said.
Westbrook, who has not played since suffering his second concussion in three weeks against San Diego on Nov. 15, will practice with the first-team offense and is expected to play, barring any unexpected setbacks.
"Unless there is a setback here, I think that’s what he’s counting on and the doctors, and everybody else," Reid said.
Reid said earlier in the week that the team would be keeping close watch of Westbrook's reps and that it could take time to get him back in the lineup. However, Reid said, Westbrook should bring some "fresh legs" to the offense.
Asked whether Westbrook or LeSean McCoy would start, Reid said, "There are different packages that they have, so both of them are going to get practice time and we’re doing it a little bit different than we did before, sort of a rotational deal. I would probably tell you that LeSean has a little bit bigger package. I can’t tell you who’s going to be the guy that is on the field first.”
PREGAME INTROS
A reader wanted to know whether the Broncos' defensive starters would be introduced before Sunday's game, wondering whether Brian Dawkins would be announced and get to burst out onto the Linc field one more time.
An Eagles spokesman said the visitors usually come out all at once as a team, but it is up to the that team to decide how they want to handle it. As for the Eagles, they alternate between offense and defense each home game.
UPDATE: Broncos coach Josh McDaniels said on a conference call with the Philadelphia media that the Broncos will have the defense introduced.
PRIME TIME FINALE?
The Eagles-Dallas game on Jan. 3 seems like a good candidate to be moved to the prime-time game on NBC for Week 17, even though it would mean back-to-back Sunday night appearances for the Cowboys. Dallas plays Washington this Sunday night.
In order to get the best possible matchup for the final Sunday nighter, the league does not have to select a game until six days before the game, rather than the usual time frame. However, you can probably expect an announcement at some point late in the Cowboys-Redskins game.
Some other possibilities could be the Giants-Vikings game, Steelers-Dolphins or perhaps Colts-Bills, if Indy is going for a perfect regular season.
More on this subject from Barry Horn in the Dallas Morning News.
TIEBREAKERS
Tim MacMahon, of ESPNDallas.com, provides an extensive look at all the possible tiebreaker scenarios in the NFC East involving the Eagles, Cowboys and Giants. Click here.
If the Eagles win this week and the Cowboys lose, then the Eagles will win the division. If the Eagles and Cowboys both lose this weekend and the Giants win out, then the Eagles win the division.
If the Cowboys beat the Redskins, then the Eagles-Cowboys game determines the division winner, regardless of how the Eagles do against the Broncos. Or if the Eagles lose to Denver and the Giants don't win their remaining games, then the Week 17 game also will determine the division winner.
STAT OF NOTE
With the Eagles suddenly finding some balance on offense and sticking with the running game, note that the Broncos are 22nd in the league against the run, allowing 116.9 yards per game, and second against the pass, allowing 177.5 yards per game.
Les
Bowen has covered the Eagles for the Daily News
since 2002.
Before that, he spent nearly 13 years covering the Flyers. It took Les
only a few seasons after the switch to figure out that there was no
penalty box at the Linc, and that the time really wasn't his, despite
what Andy Reid kept saying. Les came to Philadelphia and the Daily News
from Charlotte in 1983. In the intervening years, he has pretty much
lost track of NASCAR, and his accent. He, his wife Barbara, and their
two sons live in Haddon Township, New Jersey.
E-mail Les at bowenl@phillynews.com
and follow
him on Twitter.
Paul
Domowitch has been with the Daily News since 1982.
He has spent most of his nearly 3 decades with the paper covering the
Eagles and pro football. For the last 10 years, he’s been a
selector for the Pro Football Hall of Fame. A native of Wilkes-Barre
and a graduate of Wilkes University, Domo started his career in Texas,
working first for the Midland Reporter-Telegram (1976-78), and then for
the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, where he covered some god-awful Texas
Ranger baseball teams. His first beat at the Daily News actually was
boxing, which he covered just long enough to lose 2 sports coats to
blood spatter before moving on to football. Domo and his wife Shelley,
a University of Oklahoma grad who still hasn’t gotten over
that Fiesta Bowl loss to Boise State 5 years ago, have 2 terrific
daughters -- Allison, 28, who is an attorney in South Jersey, and Amy,
25, who works in administration for a professional baseball team.
E-mail Domo at PDomo@aol.com and follow
him on Twitter.
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