Eagles Notebook: Westbrook eager to run more for the Eagles

During the game, Brian Westbrook doesn't really count his touches, the Eagles running back said yesterday. He'll lobby offensive coordinator Marty Mornhinweg a little, but mostly, Westbrook said, he looks ahead to the next opportunity, figuring it will give him a chance to make up for lost time.

"I really don't get too down during the game," Westbrook said. "Of course, after the game, you look at stats, you look at production, things like that, and you kind of say, 'Wow,' but at the same time, we've had a lot of success throwing the football."

Westbrook, ever the diplomat (well, now that he isn't angry about his contract anymore), noted that if the Eagles had been able to hit those long passes "like we did in the first couple of games," Sunday's immensely frustrating 13-9 loss to the host Raiders would have been different.

"We didn't do that," Westbrook said. "Now it's kind of a glaring reminder that you have to run the ball."

Of course, Westbrook, in his eighth Eagles season, has seen these "glaring reminders" delivered to Mornhinweg and head coach Andy Reid many times over the years. He does not plan to hold his breath until they respond.

A questioner observed that the Birds traditionally have thrown the ball best when their offense was balanced, when they also were running it well.

Westbrook smiled.

"Seems that way," he said.

If last week's six carries for 50 yards and nine catches for 91 are any indication, Westbrook is finally healthy, in sync, and not worried about his knee or his ankle. Reid and Mornhinweg were slow to realize that, alternating him series by series with rookie LeSean McCoy, who had looked interchangeable with Westbrook in previous games, but certainly was not (five carries, 13 yards, no catches, one really bad drop) at Oakland.

Will they have figured any of this out by Monday night's visit to the Redskins?

"I think I can play. I can make some plays when I have the ball in my hands. It's pretty hard to show people what you can do when you don't have the opportunities," Westbrook said. "I think as the season goes on, I will get those opportunities, and when I do, I think I will show people that I can still play . . . I think I can carry the load. I think I have the ability to go out there and touch the ball 20, 25 times a game. I haven't had the opportunity yet, so really, you don't know for sure, 110 percent, until you have that opportunity."

The 3-2 Birds have thrown the ball 187 times and run it only 116 - and that number would be even more lopsided if you added the dozen sacks and the four picks to the passing ledger, and subtracted quarterback scrambles from the runs. What's particularly frustrating to Westbrook is that he feels the current o-line is set up well for running.

"I think we have better run blockers this year than we had, especially last year, even though those guys did a great job last year," he said. "I definitely think our tackles are younger, more athletic; they're better run blockers, [left tackle] Jason [Peters] and [right tackle] Winston [Justice]. The guys inside are pretty much the same, minus [guard/tackle] Shawn [Andrews]. [Guard] Todd [Herremans] is coming back this week. Those guys, they can play. They are very athletic, they can move around."

Why so many ground-game struggles, then?

"It gets to a point in the game where you're passing a lot, and they get a little passive because they're always passing, so it's a different approach for them," Westbrook said. "We have to find a way to be aggressive even if we're passing the ball."

Andy Reid announced yesterday that Kevin Curtis is off getting another medical opinion on his aching knee; so far MRIs have not disclosed the cause of Curtis' pain, as he has missed the last three games. This is not an encouraging sign, obviously.

Funny thing is, the Eagles, who started the season with seven wideouts, now are down to four healthy ones, two of whom are pretty inexperienced, as Donovan McNabb noted yesterday in assessing the impact of losing Curtis. When linebacker Omar Gaither is put on injured reserve, it wouldn't be a shock to see the Eagles fill the roster spot with a wide receiver. They cut Hank Baskett, who was picked up by the Colts, then they traded Brandon Gibson this week for Will Witherspoon, the linebacker slated to replace Gaither.

Brian Westbrook lauded his brother Byron, a cornerback who is on the Redskins' roster after 2 years as a practice-squad member. "It really speaks to his character and work ethic," Westbrook said . . . Defensive end Victor Abiamiri has a knee sprain and won't play . . . Left tackle Jason Peters practiced and should play despite suffering knee and ankle sprains against the Raiders.