Marty Mornhinweg Shortened Brian Westbrook's Career?

Written By Bob Cunningham On Friday, May 14, 2010

Was Brian Westbrook rushed back onto the field?



I don't think Marty Mornhinweg did his best Tonya Harding impression and had someone take out Brian Westbrook's knees and ankles, but with the revelation from DeSean Jackson that Mornhinweg feels comfortable questioning a guy's toughness, is it possible Mornhinweg had a hand in getting Westbrook on the field sooner than he should have been?

We saw it at least a couple times a year since Westbrook became the man in the backfield. He would tweak his knee or ankle and instead of sitting out the week or two it would take for the injury to heal, he would try to play through it.

Then, when he tried to play through it, it led to an injury that had him carried off the field, hobbling like House without his cane or Vicodin.

So is it possible that Mornhinweg got to him the way he tried to get to Jackson? It's certainly not far-fetched to believe that if Mornhinweg would question a guy with a concussion that he'd question a guy who just nicked up his knee or ankle.

In fact, I seem to remember Westbrook going down with a concussion, rushing back, and then getting another one that could very well have ended his career -- or at least ended any sort of productive career.

Quite honestly, I'm not sure what to think about this. It strikes me as a real possibility, but it doesn't make sense that Westbrook, especially in his post-release media rounds, wouldn't have brought this up in his rants.

Of course, most of his ranting was about money and not much else, so it's possible he's choosing to remain mum on the subject.

But now that Jackson, justifiably so or otherwise, has let the cat out of the bag, so to speak, every interaction Mornhinweg has had with a player is open to scrutinized; Especially with star players whom he wanted to see on the field quicker than others.

I'm an old school type of guy who believes the NFL, and football in general, is a game that must be played by tough guys. Players must be willing to play through the nicks and bruises that come with playing such a violent sport, but there's also a difference between being tough and working off out-dated assumptions on how injuries work.

We know today that, rather than simply playing through it, some injuries simply heal better when the player is allowed to rest and that, in the long run, it will work out better for all parties involved.

Mornhinweg seems to be part of that class of old school thinking, but he's also got to back it up with the new age knowledge of how these injuries work rather than trying to get into a guy's head in an effort to get him back on the field.

Again, there's no evidence to support this and I'm more or less thinking out loud, but it makes too much sense to ignore anymore. Someone seemed to be pushing Westbrook to play, and now it makes sense that the man doing it was Mornhinweg.

I'm just saying, "Connect the Dots" isn't that difficult of a game to play.


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