Brian Westbrook Needs Ankle Surgery, Is He Done as an Elite RB?

The Philadelphia Eagles have confirmed that running back Brian Westbrook will have surgery to remove bone spurs in his right ankle, and the necessary recovery time of 2-3 months means that he might miss all of training camp and the preseason. And that leads me to wonder whether Westbrook is done as a legitimate starting running back in the NFL.

Westbrook will turn 30 before the regular season starts, and plenty of 30-year-old running backs have seen their production plummet. And Westbrook was already looking a step slower: He played a much smaller part in the Eagles' passing game last season than he had in the past, and on the ground he went from 5.1 yards a carry in 2006 to 4.8 yards a carry in 2007 to 4.0 yards a carry in 2008.

Although neither he nor the Eagles are going into specifics, the type of surgery that Westbrook is having indicates that he probably has arthritis in the ankle. That's a very bad sign for a player who has been bothered by various nagging injuries for much of his NFL career.

Westbrook is still expected to enter Week 1 of the regular season as the Eagles' starter, but realistically, it's hard to picture him ever being a star again. Much of the Eagles' offense has gone through Westbrook in recent years, but it's time for the Eagles to find a good Plan B.