Eagles' news/notes

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Eagles RB Westbrook ends holdout, inks tender
NFL.com wire reports

PHILADELPHIA (June 1, 2005) -- Pro Bowl running back Brian Westbrook signed a one-year contract to remain with the Philadelphia Eagles through next season.

The versatile Westbrook is coming off a breakout season in which he led the team with 1,515 total yards and was tops among NFL running backs with 73 catches for 703 yards and six touchdowns, despite sitting out the last two regular-season games.

Westbrook was a key component of the Eagles' trip to the Super Bowl and caught a 10-yard touchdown pass in the Eagles' 24-21 loss to the Patriots.

He has been seeking a long-term contract but had until June 15 to sign a restricted-free-agent tender or risk having it reduced.

The Eagles were opening a three-day passing camp and Westbrook was expected to participate.

Westbrook played sparingly as a rookie in 2002, but in 2003 showed he was a dynamic return man and the most explosive member of the three-pronged rushing attack along with Duce Staley and Correll Buckhalter. Westbrook became a full-time starter last season after Staley left for free agency and Buckhalter suffered a season-ending knee injury.

In his three-year career, Westbrook has rushed for 1,618 yards and 10 touchdowns and caught 119 passes for 1,121 yards and 10 scores.

The Eagles still are without wide receiver Terrell Owens, who is skipping minicamps over a contract dispute, and defensive tackle Corey Simon, who has yet to sign his one-year franchise tender.

 

[Ego74]

McNabb: T.O. will end holdout, be in training camp


June 2, 2005
CBS SportsLine.com wire reports



PHILADELPHIA -- Donovan McNabb and Terrell Owens aren't feuding. Or so says the Eagles' quarterback.
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McNabb said Thursday he has talked to Owens since they exchanged verbal shots earlier this offseason. He insists his relationship with the All-Pro wide receiver isn't strained.

"We talked. Things are great," McNabb said with a hint of sarcasm.

Though he was unwilling to reveal details of the discussion, McNabb predicted Owens will report to training camp. Owens has been holding out of offseason minicamps because he wants to renegotiate the seven-year deal worth almost $49 million he signed in March 2004.

"He will be at camp. Now if he shows up to camp, he shows up. If he doesn't, hey, I'm just telling you my opinion," McNabb said Thursday after the second day of passing camp.

McNabb probably is basing that opinion on the recent conversation he had with Owens. But he wouldn't say which player made the phone call.

"We are football players and whatever may have transpired all throughout the offseason, when you step out on that field, you have one job and that is to make plays," McNabb said.

McNabb said he expects to work out with Owens before training camp, possibly in Arizona, where McNabb goes with several other players for drills each summer.

McNabb scoffed at the notion Owens or other teammates consider him a "company man."

"I definitely need to know the definition of a 'company man,"' McNabb said. "I think a smart player, a smart athlete, a smart person, knowing how to handle the situations, and knowing how to handle things in the right manner, that may be something that defines me.

"How would you look at a company man? What is a company man? When people say that, it brings a smile to my face because I have no idea what they're talking about. It could be negative, it could be positive, but personally I don't care."

Owens started the friction in April.

"I wasn't the guy who got tired in the Super Bowl," Owens said, a thinly veiled reference to the fact some Eagles players said McNabb was so ill in the fourth quarter of the 24-21 loss to New England that he couldn't call one play in the huddle.

McNabb has denied he was sick or tired in the game, and responded sternly to Owens' comments.

"Just keep my name out of your mouth," McNabb said in response afterward. "Don't try to throw names or guys under the bus to better yourself. You never heard me say any names in any situation. You never heard me talk about any given players. I'm the guy to be professional and be a man about things."

In his first season in Philadelphia after eight years with San Francisco, the flashy Owens set team records with 14 touchdown receptions and seven 100-yard games, and finished with 77 catches for 1,200 yards.

He broke his leg and severely sprained his right ankle in Week 15 against Dallas, an injury that sidelined him until the Super Bowl. In that game, Owens had nine catches for 122 yards after defying his doctor's advice and playing against the Patriots.

McNabb, who lobbied hard for the Eagles to acquire Owens, had his best season last year, throwing for 3,875 yards and 31 TDs while earning his fifth consecutive trip to the Pro Bowl.
AP NEWS
The Associated Press News Service