Eagles' Westbrook deals with reduced role

THE GUY WHO might be the biggest obstacle to Brian Westbrook regaining his accustomed role in the Eagles' offense said yesterday he would have no problem if that happened.

"I think he deserves touches. He's a great player," LeSean McCoy said, when asked about his mentor. "They're just trying to keep him fresh, for later on in the year, the playoffs. We're going to definitely need him."

Westbrook made it clear after Sunday's 33-14 victory over the Bucs that his eight touches - six carries and a couple of receptions - weren't what he was used to, or what he necessarily expects, going forward. Westbrook missed the preseason recovering from June ankle surgery, then missed the Kansas City game after spraining that ankle against New Orleans.

Coach Andy Reid said yesterday he plans to continue rotating Westbrook and McCoy, the second-round rookie from Pitt.

Westbrook indicated he understands the situation, isn't nursing any grudges. But that doesn't mean this is an easy adjustment for an undersized third-round draft choice who fought hard to become more than a situational player, and who authored one of the most amazing seasons in Eagles history 2 years ago, amassing 2,104 yards from scrimmage. So far this season, he is on a pace for 692.

"I see the plays and how they're calling them, and in this offense, you call the plays for a lot of your playmakers," Westbrook said. "This week we called a lot of plays for Jeremy [Maclin]. In previous weeks we've called a lot of plays for DeSean [Jackson]. I know that at some point we are going to have to run the ball. At some point, they are going to have to put the ball in my hands. For me, I have to be constantly working on my game, constantly getting better every single week, and I'll have the opportunity to do what I do with the ball in my hands."

People who lament that there isn't the same magic watching Westbrook any more perhaps don't factor in that magic comes easier the more often you have the ball.

"You can't do much without the ball in your hands, as a running back," he said. "You can block and do different things like that, but you can't really do too much without the ball. So, I just try to go out, continue to be a leader on this team, continue to try and help the younger guys, whatever I can do to help this team win, that's what I'll do."

The Raiders did not watch the tape of Sunday's game and conclude they could just ignore No. 36, Oakland coach Tom Cable told a conference call with Philadelphia-area reporters.

"If you don't plan for him, he'll beat you," Cable said of Westbrook, who turned 30 last month. "He's a very, very good player. Always has been. Doesn't look any different to me."

In a later conference call, All-Pro corner Nnamdi Asomugha recalled Westbrook catching six passes for 140 yards and a touchdown, and running 13 times for 68 yards and another TD, in the Raiders' last meeting with the Birds, a 23-20 Eagles victory at the Linc on Sept. 25, 2005.

"He hurt us a lot, catching the ball out of the backfield," Asomugha said. "We're definitely keying on him."

But maybe not to the extent they would have a few years ago, before the Eagles had McCoy and wide receivers Jackson and Maclin, and before tight end Brent Celek began to emerge as a reliable target.

"They've got weapons all over their offense," Asomugha acknowledged.

Westbrook said he will conform to whatever role Reid has in mind.

"If he asks me to rotate, if he asks me to go in whenever, I'm prepared to do that," he said. "Of course as playmaker, as a running back, I want the ball just as much as everybody else. I briefly talked to DeSean after the [Tampa] game, I talked to Jeremy, those guys - they want the ball - LeSean, everybody on this team wants the ball. We've all complained a little bit more; we want the ball a little bit more every week. For me, I go out there and try to play my best every chance I get."

Westbrook's situation has a Catch-22 feel. He has been among those decrying a lack of weapons, when the Eagles have fallen short. Now, Westbrook said yesterday, they field the most potent offensive group he has seen here.

"I would love to touch the ball more, but I know that we have athletes on this team. We have guys that can do some dynamic things with the ball in their hands," Westbrook said. "I think over the years here, we've fought and fought and tried to get more playmakers on this team, and now we have them, and one of the drawbacks of having more playmakers is you have to spread the ball out a little bit more."

One saving grace is that Westbrook enjoys working with McCoy, he said.

"His personality is a little different than mine was back then, but he's a great kid. He's a hard worker. He listens. He's going to be a very good football player," Westbrook said. "He's a good football player now. He still has some things to improve on to be at the point where I think he wants to go. Anything that I can help him do, anything that I can say to him to give him that encouragement to really assure him that he's going to be the football player that he wants to be, I'm willing to do that."

Westbrook got just 55 touches as a rookie in 2002, back when Reid seemed averse to making first-year players a big part of his offense. The back from Villanova had very little to say back then. Even now, Westbrook cultivates a grouchy, grudging persona around the media; it's unclear how much is genuine resentment and how much is in jest.

Westbrook described McCoy as "charismatic" and "fun to be around."

"I wasn't always like that when I was a little bit younger," he said.

Of course, Westbrook turned 23 before the start of his rookie season. McCoy turned 21 in July.

It's hard to get a fix on how much the ankle (or the knee that kept him from practicing most of last season) might be bothering Westbrook. It is clear that missing the preseason left him feeling a little rusty.

"Right now, I feel like I'm fine-tuning my game, fine-tuning the things that I haven't been able to work on too much because of the injury, things like that," Westbrook said. "Just trying to get to the point where everything comes 100 percent natural."

For more Eagles coverage and opinion, read the Daily News' Eagles blog, Eagletarian, at www.eagletarian.com.