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Eagles Notes: Eagles' Westbrook wants increased workload

Brian Westbrook raised his hand yesterday and said he was ready for more work. "I think I can make some plays when I have the ball in my hands," Westbrook said before practice yesterday. "It's very hard to show people what you can do when you don't have the opportunities. 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 will show people that I can still play," Brian Westbrook said.  (Clem Murray/Staff file photo)
"I think I will show people that I can still play," Brian Westbrook said. (Clem Murray/Staff file photo)Read more

Brian Westbrook raised his hand yesterday and said he was ready for more work.

"I think I can make some plays when I have the ball in my hands," Westbrook said before practice yesterday. "It's very hard to show people what you can do when you don't have the opportunities. 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."

He showed that Sunday against the Oakland Raiders when he ran six times for 50 yards and caught nine passes for 91 more. It was a reminder of what he's done in the past for the Eagles, and now he would like to carry the football some more.

Westbrook said he has been known to make a suggestion or two to offensive coordinator Marty Mornhinweg in the middle of games.

"Sometimes he listens, sometimes he doesn't," Westbrook said. "It's his job as an offensive coordinator to do what he feels is best for the offense. I always let him know what I think works; most of the time just running plays. But at the same time, we have a very good quarterback and we have very capable receivers outside, so we're going to throw the ball. We're a passing team, so we're probably not going to stop doing that."

Westbrook, who missed all four preseason games after June ankle surgery, hasn't had more than 16 touches in a game yet this season.

"I think I can carry the load," he said. "I think I have the ability to go out there and touch the ball 20, 25 times a game."

Meanwhile, for the first time in his career, Westbrook will play in a game against his younger brother Byron, who is a cornerback and special-teams player for the Redskins.

"I'm very proud of him," Brian Westbrook said. "Two years on the practice squad and finally he made the team this year, so I'm very proud of him. He's come a long way from a D-III school [Salisbury University] to make an NFL roster."

Brian Westbrook was asked who he thought his parents would root for Monday night.

"I hope they root for me," he said. "These first five, six games or so, they've been switching. My dad will come one week and my mother will go to my brother's game and vice versa the next week. They will be rooting for their sons to both have success and, hopefully, because I'm older, they'll want the Eagles to win."

Mays' descent. For most of training camp after Stewart Bradley went down with a season-ending knee injury, Joe Mays was at the top of the depth chart at middle linebacker. But now he's stuck at the bottom even after a season-ending injury to Omar Gaither.

"I have no idea," Mays said when asked why he has been buried on the depth chart. "Some things you just have to take and roll with it because this is a business. I'm not really worried about it."

Extra points. The Eagles signed wide receiver Dobson Collins and guard Dallas Reynolds to the practice squad, replacing cornerback Stoney Woodson, who was released, and guard Mike Gibson, who was signed to Seattle's 53-man roster Wednesday. Collins, a product of Gardner-Webb University, was released from San Francisco's practice squad earlier this month. Reynolds, a Brigham Young product, was with the Eagles in training camp and cut before the start of the season.