Westbrook expects to play despite knee

[nidan]

Brian Westbrook re-injured his left knee in the Philadelphia Eagles' 23-11 divisional-round victory over the New York Giants but is expected to play against the Arizona Cardinals on Sunday, the running back told ESPN's Sal Paolantonio on Wednesday.

Westbrook said he is dealing with some "extra swelling" in the knee and wouldn't practice Wednesday.


"I'm going to spend more time running in the pool to help the muscles around the knee fire up a little bit better," he said.
Westbrook finished with just 36 yards on 18 carries and had two receptions for 10 yards last weekend.

http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/playoffs2008/news/story?id=3832803

 

[Renz]

Westbrook is averaging 1.9 YPC in the playoffs. Let's SHUT HIM DOWN!!!

 

[Shane]

Westbrook is averaging 1.9 YPC in the playoffs. Let's SHUT HIM DOWN!!!

Its not his running that scares me... Is those ********* screen passes that scare the bejeezus out of me.

 

[cardsfanmd]

Its not his running that scares me... Is those ********* screen passes that scare the bejeezus out of me.

 

[SuperSpck]

x2

 

[sundevilscott]

x2

x3

 

[PJ1]

They claimed he was hurt leading up to the last time we played them. He will play and we just have to contain him. Dansby needs to continue his stellar play.

 

[arthurracoon]

Its not his running that scares me... Is those ********* screen passes that scare the bejeezus out of me.

yup

 

[Russ Smith]

Its not his running that scares me... Is those ********* screen passes that scare the bejeezus out of me.

Yep there are times where I think you could run a screen on every play against us and we wouldn't stop it.

 

[PJ1]

Yep there are times where I think you could run a screen on every play against us and we wouldn't stop it.

Oddly enough the screen pass has killed this team for as long as I can remember. It sure didn't need to be Westbrook running it either.

 

[Shogun]

Wasn't he injured the last time we played?

 

[ARZCardinals]

Let's hope someone hits his knee so hard that it hurts him enough to cough up the ball.

 

[conraddobler]

We have to have the largest screen pass - in history in terms of both our ability to stop it and to ourselves do one.

To us, actually doing one and not losing 10 yards is a victory, when the other team does one them not scoring a TD is a victory.

You would think such a fundamental play wouldn't be so hard.

 

[Captain Matt]

This is the perfect excuse if they lose....

Turner's grandma got robbed

Delhome's sister-in-law was having her period

Westbrook's knee was bad

Maybe after we win the Superbowl someone will make a crazy statement like, "you know these Cardinals might not be all that bad."

 

[NeverSayDieFan]

Dear Mr. Westbrook...

Meet your "shadow" for the NFC Championship game, Mr. Dansby.

 

[RonF]

We need to deal with it. We stopped the other playoff teams from running we can stop the Eagles. Now stopping McNabb will require a little work on our part, the guy has pillaged us for years.

 

[Goldfield]

Blitz,Blitz,Blitz,Blitz...

Force McNabb into quick throws and let DRC & co jump on the mistakes.

 

[CardLogic]

Talk about Westbrook's knee is smoke and mirrors.

 

[Zeno]

Yep there are times where I think you could run a screen on every play against us and we wouldn't stop it.

Its amazing we rarely ever run an effective screen and struggle stopping them....screen plays are cursed

 

[BCEagle]

The knee has been a problem since the Baltimore game.

 

[RandomGuy]

Talk about Westbrook's knee is smoke and mirrors.

As an Eagles fan, I wish it was. Westbrook has been significantly hurt for most of the year. He's had a few games where he looked like someone's grandfather behind the line. Knees, ribs, ankles. He was quoted after a rib injury earlier in the year as not being breathe well enough to sleep for a few days. He has healed up a bit but they are already talking about draining his knee if they actually win and get a two week break.

Yes, the screen pass is the real bread and butter. The runs up the middle for those terrible 2yd average is the real smoke and mirrors. The Eagles have never excelled at running up the middle and Sunday will not be an exception. It's just an attempt to keep the defense honest.

For what it's worth, the Eagles have not been calling many screens in recent games. Something just hasn't been working - be it to Westbrook or a TE. If the Cards are prone to allowing a big screen pass (you guys are the experts), expect to see them dialed up a bit more on Sunday.

 

[SECTION 11]

Hope he plays

 

[goeagles412]

This is nothing new. Westbrook hasn't been 100% in months. He said he "tweaked" it which basically means very little except he won't practice much this week, if at all, but will play. Even if the injury hampers his play, I'm not too concerned about it because he's been held in check the last two weeks and the Eagles still won.

 

[TJ]

Cards should not read anything into it. I wouldnt be surprised to see the Eagles players playing a bit of a psychology game with the Cards. Treat him like he is healthy, he is still one of the best running backs in the league and certainly the most versatile one at that

 

[RandomGuy]

It actually helps the Eagles when opponents treat Westbrook as healthy. He's a great decoy back there when he eats up a spy while just sticking near McNabb to pickup the blitz. It's almost like blocking two guys.