CAN HEAR CLEARWATER CALLING
Andy Reid read a list of five offensive starters who would not be practicing today, as his team started preparing to vist the Chicago Bears this weekend. Five is a lot, in a sport where you can only have 11 on the field at a time. But the two marquee names, Donovan McNabb and Brian Westbrook, seemed hopeful about their chances of playing.
"I'm optimistic about getting out there and being able to play," said Westbrook, who suffered what the Eagles have called a strained ankle in Sunday's victory over the Steelers. Westbrook has likened the injury to a high ankle sprain, which almost certainly would take more than a week for a running back to recover from, but he said Wednesday that "I've definitely gotten better since Sunday."
Obviously, there is still quite a bit of time before the Birds have to make a decision on Westbrook's status.
"I'm going to do what's best for me and this team," Westbrook said.
He has compared his injury to the one suffered by Brian Dawkins in the preseason, at New England, which the team called an "ankle tendon strain." Dawkins was injured on Aug. 22, and as a veteran, wasn't scheduled to play in the remaining preseason game anyway. He returned for the Sept. 7 regular season opener.
McNabb, meanwhile, said his chest contusion is more painful than it was when he finished Sunday's game with it.
"I expect to be out there," McNabb said.
Reid has said he expects FB Tony Hunt to be able to play. Less clear is the status of TE L.J. Smith (back), or RG Shawn Andrews (back).
Wideout Kevin Curtis practiced yesterday for the first time since undergoing sports hernia surgery on Aug. 21. Curtis was to practice with the scout team. He is unlikely to play this week
Brian Dawkins, by the way, said he would take a pass on Westbrook's suggestion, that B-Dawk would be the teammate most suited for "Dancing with the Stars."
"I'm not wearing the ruffles," Dawkins said.
In other frivolous news, be sure to read our previous Wednesday entry and try your hand at suggesting a movie with which McNabb might identify.
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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