Philadelphia Eagles running back Brian Westbrook expects to return to the field on Sunday against the Cowboys, 13 days after suffering a concussion against the Redskins. But he acknowledges some trepidation.
“It scared me,” Westbrook said of the concussion, per Reuben Frank of The Intelligencer. “It’s tough to go through, really.”
Westbrook sat out last Sunday’s win over the Giants, but he’s eager to get back on the field against the Cowboys. On the other hand, Westbrook feels some hesitation, and he says he wants to find out more about the long-term consequences of concussions he has suffered on the football field.
“I didn’t have a great understanding of concussions before,” Westbrook said. “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.”
Realistically, there’s no way for Westbrook to play running back in the NFL and not put himself in the same position to get a concussion in the same way as he did when his head collided with Redskins linebacker London Fletcher’s knee. Hits like that are part of football, and although it’s refreshingly candid of Westbrook to admit to feeling scared, his mindset seems to be that of almost all NFL players: He just wants to play football, and not worry about the potential consequences to his health.
“I just want to go out there and be able to contribute and play some football again,” Westbrook said. “You try to play without that type of worry in your head.”