DIDN'T KNOW DOC WAS ALSO A MECHANIC
Brian Westbrook was out on the field as a full participant in practice on Sunday for the first time following the second of his offseason ankle surgeries. Westbrook spent the time at Lehigh working with trainer Rick Burkholder on the side field doing rehab, including a drill with a soccer ball at one point.
Westbrook will be among a large contingent of Eagles not making the trip to Indianapolis for Thursday's game.
He was in the front of the microphones for the first time today at the NovaCare Complex to talk about his progress, when he thinks he will be ready and the new offensive line that has been hit hard by injuries.
On how things are going back out on the practice field:
“Things are going well; better than before. There’s been a gradual process but it’s been pretty good. I haven’t had many setbacks, and I’m just excited to be back out there with the team.”
On whether he is ahead of schedule:
“I don’t know. It just depends on who you ask. I think I’m right on time, right where I wanted to be at. With talking to [head] Coach [Andy Reid] and talking to the trainers, I think we’re right where we want to be at.”
On how challenging it was to go through two surgeries this offseason:
“Any time that you have surgery it’s going to be tough. It definitely was tough for me to come back and rehab throughout the summer, but it’s one of those things, [it’s] part of being a football player, you are going to have injuries, you’re going to have surgery, and it’s all about how you come back and how you play afterwards.”
On what is preventing him from being completely back:
“I’m just still trying to get my feet underneath me. I still want to continue working on my cuts; I still want to continue working my balance, things like that. It’s coming along. It’s one of those things where it’s a work in progress. I’m excited about being back though.”
On how hard it is for him to be patient and take small steps in his rehab process:
“It’s not too hard. I think Rick and I have a great line of communication. He kind of gives me an idea of what he wants to do, what he’s trying to accomplish with each exercise, and I just basically follow his orders. He’s done a great job, him and his training staff, have done a great job of getting me back to where I’m at now.”
On whether he needs preseason reps to get ready for the regular season:
“We usually have a pretty good pace at practice, so I wouldn’t mind getting in a game a little bit, but I don’t think that not having any preseason game would hurt me as far as the regular season.”
On whether he is concerned that the starting offensive line hasn’t practiced together going into the regular season:
“Ideally speaking, you want to try and get some practice reps together: offensive line, quarterback, running back, wide receivers, everybody. But, unfortunately in this situation this year, it doesn’t look like we’re going to have that opportunity, so we have to go out there and be professionals and make the most out of the situation that we have right now. I know Jason [Peters] will be back, I know that Todd [Herremans] will be back, and hopefully Shawn [Andrews] will be back. Stacy [Andrews] will be back, as well as myself, so hopefully we are going to get some opportunity to work together, whether it’s the week before the regular season game or it’s the regular season game.”
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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.
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