Westbrook pleased with Lurie's words

"He's the owner, so it definitely makes you feel good . . . I'm really optimistic about how things are going . . . I think they continue to communicate and continue to talk and hopefully, things will be resolved soon."

That said, the Eagles running back reiterated that there were no developments during the talks between the club and his agent, Todd France.

Westbrook got a five-year, $25 million contract extension in 2005. Last season, the Villanova grad led the NFL in total yards from scrimmage with 2,104. That echoed the accomplishment of fellow Division I-AA product Wilbert Montgomery (Abilene Christian), who had 2,006 total yards from scrimmage for the Eagles in 1979.

Earlier this week, Lurie agreed the club should redo Westbrook's contract.

Westbrook told The Inquirer in July that he deserves to be paid as well as San Diego's LaDainian Tomlinson.

"If LaDainian got paid $25 million guaranteed in 2003 and now it's 2008, the next person needs to be paid $30 million guaranteed," Westbrook said. "It works its way up. You can't sit here and say, 'I'm as good as LaDainian right now, and I'm getting paid five years after him . . . so I'll take $15 million. That doesn't make any sense."

Asked yesterday whether he thought the various nuances of the collective bargaining agreement might be a stumbling block, Westbrook admitted he wasn't sure.

"I really can't go [into details] because, to be honest, I don't really know all the different rules in depth. I know the titles to them, but I don't know them very much in depth . . . That's why I have an agent."

Asked whether he thought the Eagles' front office was hamstrung by these rules, he said, that "to a point," they are tied.

"I also know that there is a way that things can get worked out," he added. "Through the research my agent has been able to do - we've been talking to the NFLPA and things like that - I do know that there is a way that things can work. It just comes down to whether it's going to happen or not."

Sheppard starts at corner. Lito Sheppard participated in some of the drills yesterday, but he also spent significant time on the sidelines during the morning program stretching out his right groin, which has been bothering him.

Sheppard said he was "definitely" playing against the Steelers tomorrow in Pittsburgh, and defensive coordination Jim Johnson backed that up, saying Sheppard would start at left cornerback and Sheldon Brown at right cornerback.

There appears no chance that Asante Samuel will play. He did participate in a morning walk-through, but not in any of the actual on-field drills that are a measuring stick for availability.

Contact sport. After hitting each other viciously earlier in the week and then going into non-contact mode (with no pads) the last few days, the Eagles appear eager to hit in a real game.

"It takes away from the fun when you can't go full out," Sheppard said. "You want to hit somebody who is not on your team. You want to go as fast as you can to get to the ball and then and let it loose when you play the game, and we can't."

Linebacker Chris Gocong echoed those sentiments.

"There are only so many plays the offense can run here and it kind of gets old after a while," Gocong said. "I'm definitely looking forward to hitting other people."

Several times this week, players bumped chests off backs or came very close to full contact.

"You gotta lay off your own teammates and not hurt anybody," Gocong said. "We are looking out for each other."

In my "5"? Donovan McNabb said he has been playing phone tag with Shawn Andrews, who has been out of camp because he is suffering from depression.

"We've missed each other's calls, we've text messaged each other," McNabb said.

McNabb said he's not worried about Andrews' state of mind for games or whether his illness would jeopardize the work the offensive line has done in camp.

"It's a situation that I think, again, you have to be very supportive of," McNabb said. "It's something that you just can't say, 'I'm fine with it now, I'm good.' He's seeking doctors. He's talked to different people, and I've always told him that if he just needs to talk or he just needs an ear, I'm here . . ."

Catching on. McNabb and Kevin Kolb continued to have some very nice throws during the days. During a red-zone drill, the diminutive DeSean Jackson had a superb leaping catch of a McNabb pass for a touchdown.

- Bob Brookover
and Tim Panaccio