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By the end of it,
they had home-field advantage in the NFC, a sliver of hope that Brian Westbrook
might still be able to join them in the playoffs, and a possible date with Brett
Favre and the Green Bay Packers in two weeks.
"We're going to be down in the frozen tundra of Philly with the real grimy, mean, nasty fans that nobody else in the NFL has," Eagles defensive tackle Darwin Walker said. "It's hostile territory. Coming to play the Eagles is not a fun thing. Trust me."
Eagles coach Andy Reid was no less grateful that the NFC road to the Super Bowl
will have to go through Philadelphia. He said he sat alone in his office at
the NovaCare Complex and watched the Detroit Lions upset the St. Louis Rams
to give the Eagles home-field advantage.
The Lions are coached by Steve Mariucci, who was an assistant coach along with
Reid at Green Bay. Both men served as the quarterbacks coach for Favre, whose
team was the most fortunate of the day, sneaking into the playoffs after Arizona
stunned Minnesota with a touchdown on the final play of the game.
"Congratulations to Detroit," Reid said. "Steve's a good friend.
Obviously we need to take care of business now. You've got to come out and get
yourself ready to play whether it's at home or on the road. You have to prepare
yourself properly and not have any letdowns."
The main order of business this week will be to determine whether Westbrook
will be able to participate in the playoffs after suffering a torn left triceps
in Saturday's season finale against Washington. An MRI yesterday confirmed the
injury, and trainer Rick Burkholder said Eagles team physicians have advised
Westbrook to get a second opinion on what he should do.
Burkholder said Eagles physicians are leaning toward operating immediately,
which would prevent Westbrook from being part of the team's playoff run.
"We feel pretty sure that at some point in time, he's going to need to
have this thing fixed," Burkholder said. "One of the options is to
wait a week or two and see how he does functionally, whether he can actually
play with the injury. We could see how our playoffs go and operate on him at
the end. Or we could operate on him now. Some of it's up to Brian, and some
of it's up to the physician."
Because the Eagles don't have to play this weekend, Westbrook has time to make
a decision.
"He's actually not too uncomfortable today," Burkholder said. "He
tore the tendon. When it tore, it was painful [Saturday] night, but today he
doesn't have much discomfort. We don't think pain is going to be the problem.
If we would go with the scenario where he played, he would have to be able to
function as a running back in this league. The thing he can't do very well right
now is push out. If he was an offensive or a defensive lineman, he probably
couldn't do it."
That said, Burkholder has concerns about Westbrook trying to play with the injury,
which he categorized as a complete tear even though he said a few tendons are
still attached.
"We're worried about if he has to protect himself against somebody where
he puts his hand out to the side on an oncoming tackler or if he's in pass protection
where he'd have to put his hand up," Burkholder said.
Though Westbrook may have been the team's offensive MVP during the regular season,
it's well documented that the Eagles have plenty of depth at running back.
"We're very fortunate to have a couple of good running backs," Reid
said. "It's not all one guy. They mixed it up pretty well between the three
of them. I have full confidence in Correll [Buckhalter] and Duce [Staley] and
Reno Mahe. If [Mahe] steps in, we know what he can do. We'll be fine."
Reid gave his players off until Friday and said he hopes the time off recharges
them before they start their bid to win the franchise's first league championship
since 1960. The Eagles and their coach understand better than anyone that home-field
advantage doesn't guarantee a trip to the Super Bowl.
"I want them to step back and get away from it a little bit, then come
back Friday ready to go," Reid said. "I'm not really big on either
home or away. I think it's great for the fans. They don't have to travel. I
know they would travel, but they don't have to. If we do this thing right, we
can play right here. It's a great treat for the people of Philadelphia if we
handle the situation right."