News flash: the newspaper is shrinking. I may get fired for writing that. Nevertheless, there are often bits and pieces of stories that get cut because of space constraints. That’s where blogs and their infinite hole come in. Here are few leftovers from last week’s reports. This may become a weekly feature once training camp begins. Please contain your enthusiasm.

B-West be hurt

Brian Westbrook has yet to complete a season of playing in every game. The Eagles running back, who underwent surgery on his right ankle on Friday, has missed at least one game in each of his seven seasons in the NFL. As illustrated below, the causes have been for myriad of injuries.

Season      Injury                       Games missed
2008         Ankle/ribs                          2
2007         Abdominal strain                1
2006         Knee                                  1
2005         Foot sprain                         4
2004         Ribs/chest                           3
2003         Torn triceps/ankle sprain     1
2002         Sprained ankle                    1

Better off silent

For someone that rarely talks to the media, Asante Samuel has been a Chatty Katty during this spring's minicamps. He did grace us with a few words last week. In fact, the Eagles cornerback had something to say about the fans. Asked if he heard comments from the peanut gallery after some of his drops of would-be interceptions, Samuel said, “I hear them. They want what they want. They want to win. If they can’t get what they want, they’re not happy.”
Does that mean he understands them better?
“I don’t know if anybody could understand the fans out here,” he said, laughing. "But they're great fans. Real passionate about their sports."

Birds of a feather

DeSean Jackson lost his father, Bill, to pancreatic cancer last month. But the Eagles wide receiver received a lot of support from his team during his father’s battle with the disease. One teammate, in particular, was there for the wide receiver.
Safety Quintin Demps, Jackson’s best friend on the team, had an uncle going through his own fight with pancreatic cancer. Demp’s uncle died a week before Bill Jackson.
“We got to be there for each other,” Demps said. “It humbled him a little bit. You got to realize every day is not promised to you. I could tell it was bothering him a little bit. But he can still come out here [to practice] and get his work done.”