Eagles Won't Know Until Game Time If B-West Can Play

It could be a “Giant” loss Sunday if Eagles running back Brian Westbrook can’t fly.

Brian Westbrook will be a game-time decision for the Philadelphia Eagles against the New York Giants on Sunday after suffering a concussion earlier this week.

"We'll see how he does this week," Eagles head coach Andy Reid said Wednesday.
B-West was knocked unconscious in the Eagles 27-17 win over Washington on Monday night when he took an inadvertent knee to his head in the first quarter.

A player who loses consciousness during the course of a game can’t return to that game, according to an NFL rule instituted in 2007.

Westbrook didn’t practice Wednesday or Thursday, nor did he do his scheduled weekly press conference.

The star running back was doing better immediately after the game, according to the Birds.

“His eyes were clear,” Reid said. “He didn't have that hazy look about him.”

Burkholder, who ushered Westbrook off the field is taking the one-day-at-a-time approach, but is encouraged by what he has seen.

“He knows everything,” Burkholder said. “He knows his brother was on the field. He knows Andy was behind me. He remembers walking off the field, going to the locker room, being on the field in the second half. He remembers all of that.”

“Now, we're looking at a headache. Once his headache clears, and it's a mild headache, but it's still a headache. Once that clears we'll get his heart rate up and see how he responds. If he does well there we'll try some football drills.”

LeSean McCoy would start in the backfield if Westbrook can’t go Sunday. But the Birds should hope that their rushing weapon is ready for the first-place G-Men.

Westbrook has done well against the Giants, including an 84-yard punt return for a touchdown in the Eagles' win in 2003. In nine games against New York, he has topped 100 total yards eight times and 100 yards rushing five times. He's also scored 11 TDs in those nine games.

The one Giants game Westbrook missed, early in the 2007 season, the Eagles lost and scored just three points.

“You prepare for Westbrook,” Giants head coach Tom Coughlin. “He's a great player and he's a guy they rely on tremendously. In key situations, he's going to get the ball.”

This week he might not.

“I'm not a doctor and I'm not Brian, so I don't know,” Eagles quarterback Donovan McNabb said. “But it's a tough deal. You get a knee to the head like that, it's tough.”

“Will there be pressure if Brian can't play, I hope not, but there will be. For (McCoy) it's just a matter of relaxing. It's a different role for him. He just has to see the hole, hit it and hold onto the ball. The same things he did in camp and the preseason.”

McCoy, for his part, said he's ready if he has to go.

“There's always a little pressure on you,'' the rookie back said. ``But that's my job to go in and help us out, if Brian can't go.”