For fans that have been speculating on whether or not Brian Westbrook has been playing hurt recently, Westbrook removed all doubt.
At his weekly press conference on Wednesday, Westbrook said that, at the very least, his ankle and knee are still bothering him and will probably continue to do so until he gets time to rehab during the offseason.
"I'm pretty sure it's not going to be completely healed, this week or next week or whenever," Westbrook said. "It's one of those situations where you try to get it as good as you can get it on Sunday and then play through it."
Westbrook started slow against the Bengals and their 25th-ranked run defense, gaining just six yards on four first-half carries. In the second half, however, he had 10 carries for 56 yards, so maybe it's just a case of getting the ankle loose.
Westbrook, though, said his second-half success was due to some adjustments the Eagles made at halftime.
"We did a couple different things in the run game," Westbrook said. "We ran more directly at them; we didn't run as many outside zones. The play selection was just a little bit different."
Even though he's still banged up, Westbrook, who didn't participate in practice on Wednesday, believes he can still help this team get back on track. He added that he's constantly talking with head coach Andy Reid about how his injuries are progressing.
"I communicate with coach and let him know how I'm feeling, what's going on," Westbrook said. "We communicate during the week and we communicate during the games as well. I try to give everything I have and go out there trying to help this team.
"It will be coach's decision, as well as mine, if I'm not helping this team, to get somebody else in there. I'm still trying to do everything I can to try to help this team win. I'm trying to go out there and compete. Get healthy enough to compete on Sundays, that's where it's at really."
Westbrook also said that the team has all the faith in the world in Reid's play calls and that his track record speaks for itself.
"As a player, you go out there no matter what play is called, run play or pass play, and you try to effectively go out there and make it work," Westbrook said. "You don't really question the coach as far as 'Why is he not running?' or 'Why is he running?' or 'Why is he throwing the ball?' or whatever. You try to go out there and make things work. Coach does a great job of studying film and seeing the defense's tendencies so we always defer to him as far as the plays; the calls. We believe and we have confidence that he'll call the right plays, whether it's a run or a pass. For me, of course I want the ball in my hands, but I don't call the plays; I don't make those types of decisions. I do have confidence in him and faith in coach that he'll make the right decisions for us."
