IS GLAD SPRING TRAINING IS FINALLY HERE
We figure the civic obsession with run-pass ratio will be back at full steam this season, especially as the Eagles have a new set of offensive weapons to work with. The question takes on heightened interest in the early going, as the Eagles begin with a revamped offensive line that has yet to play together and a running back who did not have a full training camp or play in the preseason at all.
Brian Westbrook was asked Wednesday how he would react to getting 18-22 touches a game with the other backs getting some opporunities as well, especially rookie LeSean McCoy. Westbrook said McCoy as "the makings ofa very good football player" and proclaimed him "ready."
“I hope that they mix it up a little bit," Westbrook said. "I still would love to touch the ball a lot. I think I can still do a lot of dynamic things with the ball in my hands. We just really have to wait and see how the game goes.”
Westbrook turned 30 last week and has been asked a lot about being a "30-year-old running back." Presumably, limiting his workload could help prolong his career and reduce the pounding on his body to help him through the season.
“As a player I’m always going to go full-bore," Westbrook said. "I’m always going to give everything I have. I’m hopeful that I will touch the ball as many times as I can, as many times as coach allows me to. I don’t really think of it as, ‘if you touch the ball 30 times a game you have two more years left, or three years or whatever it is.’ Every time I touch it I try to do what I do with the ball and let the chips fall where they may.”
Asked about Westbrook's workload, quarterback Donovan McNabb said, "Brian is a guy that when the ball is in his hands, defenses have to try to stop. We’re happy to have him and it’s a bonus for us, but you don’t want to just sit there and keep having him run 30 times a game and hope for the best.”
The Daily News recently asked two scouts about the Eagles by position and here is what they said about Westbrook:
Scout 1: "Westbrook is a great player. But you wonder how much he’s got left. There’s only so many carries and so many hits in runners. They get up one morning and they’re done. That’s got to be a concern as he goes forward here. McCoy seems to have picked up the offense pretty quickly and appears ready to take some of the load off of Westbrook’s shoulders. That will keep Brian fresher and healthier. He’s very similar to Westbrook in style, which will help with the continuity when he goes in."
Scout 2: "They’ve got a really good group. Westbrook’s, what, 30? But if they don’t overuse him, he still can be a difference-maker for them for another couple of years. McCoy’s a lot like Westbrook. He’s picked things up fast. The (Eldra) Buckley kid, I really like him. He’s a hard runner. He brings it. He’s a good compliment to Westbrook and McCoy."
*
Today is the day for the annual Daily News football section. You can read it by clicking here.
Also, DN executive sports editor Josh Barnett does a chat at 1 p.m. and many of the questions figure to be Eagles related. Feel free to chime in.
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.
Download our iPhone/Android app for even more Birds coverage, including app-exclusive videos and analysis. Get it here for iPhone or here for Android.
 | Join on Facebook |
