Email this postMarty Mornhinweg didn't talk long following this morning's indoor practice at Lehigh University, but the Eagles' offensive coordinator actually said a lot.
The man who calls the plays for the offense wisely adopted the role of good cop in the contract case of Westbrook vs. the Eagles that figures to play out at least for a few more days.
"I still think he's underrated even though he made the Pro Bowl," Mornhinweg said. "I think he's vastly underrated. I think he's a great player for us, and I think he's even more valuable for us. He does many things and he does them all very well. He's a dynamite player."
The underrated part is absolutely right. If LaDainian Tomlinson or Terrell Owens was involved in something like this, the ESPN cameras would have started camping out at Lehigh University days ago and the national media would be invading the area, too. Not so much with Westbrook.
Like almost everyone else, Mornhinweg expects Westbrook to report to training camp today. Veterans must arrive in time for coach Andy Reid's 7 p.m. team meeting. The running back did officially hire agent Todd France, who filed the necessary paperwork with the NFL players association.
Mornhinweg was asked if he thought Westbrook would be happy upon his arrival. It was a question about the contract situation, but the offensive coordinator's answer pertained to the running back's role in the offense.
"It's not about happy, it's about winning games," Mornhinweg said. "I don't care who's happy or not and our players know that. Our players don't care. Brian knows. Brian understands. Brian knows that we'll do whatever it takes to win the next ball game, so that's the way we approach things."
Interestingly, Mornhinweg thought he might have called Westbrook's number a little too often last season.
"I thought there were several times that we had to overuse Brian just a little bit," Mornhinweg said. "Brian's a big weapon, but too much is just about not enough."
Too much is just about enough? Sounds like a title for some band's future CD.
"We'll try to do the right thing there with Brian," Mornhinweg said.
The offensive coordinator was talking about the offense. The running back has a diferent idea about the right thing for the Eagles to do right now with Brian.
"There's always distractions," Mornhinweg said, downplaying the Westbrook contract squabble. "Some adversity is pretty good because you're going to have adversity through the season and you have to overcome those things. There's nothing wrong with a little bit of adversity."
All right then, let the adversity begin. Or is that continue?
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