Brian Westbrook Concerned About Concussion

Philadelphia Eagles running back Brian Westbrook returned to practice this week after having missed most of two games with a concussion. He was hit in the head by Washington Redskins linebacker London Fletcher in the first quarter of a 27-17 win back on October 26, forcing him to miss last week’s game against the N.Y. Giants. Normally, I would say the Eagles are a worse different team without the services of perhaps the best all-purpose running back in the National Football League, but they surprisingly had no problem disposing of their division rivals without Brian, 40-17.

Brian Westbrook, Philadelphia Eagles / Photo: Newscom

When asked about his injury after practice today, Brian provided some honest answers and insight:

“It scared me. It’s tough to go through, really. I didn’t have a great understanding of concussions before. When you think about it, they don’t have a lot of information on concussions when you get to be 50, 60 and 70 years old (and) how it impacts your life. Unfortunately, in this profession, a lot of guys have concussions. Some guys don’t even know they have concussions until it’s too late. I’m concerned about the long-term effects of it, but when you go out there and play football … you have to go out there and try to play with reckless abandon. Hopefully, I’ll never put myself in that same position to get a concussion in that same way. But that’s a part of the game.”

I can certainly understand his trepidation. But he’s right. As soon as you start playing like you’re afraid of suffering another injury, you might as well call it a career. And I don’t see Brian Westbrook doing that anytime soon. I know the NFL has put a great deal of time and money and research into protecting their players, especially in the case of concussions. So, I’m sure the Eagles will be very careful with Brian’s long-term health. Then again, their next game is against Dallas. And the fact that Brian has had full participation in practice the past couple days makes me think he’ll be ready to handle something close to a normal workload Sunday against the Cowboys.

Source: PhillyBurbs.com