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When it comes to having the ball in his hands, don't try mincing words with Bryant Westbrook. The Eagles' veteran running back has let it be known he's looking to average 20 to 25 carries, not touches, per game this season. Westbrook's rationale seems simple. With that kind of mix, he feels both his and the team's fortunes will vastly improve. “I think to put up the numbers that the great running backs are putting up you have to have that,” he says. But Westbrook also understands none of this will come easy, particularly given the Eagles' equally distributed run-pass offense. Last season, he had 20 or more carries just five times and of the league's top ten rushers he averaged by far (17.1) the fewest carries. Indeed, the prospect of gaining what he craves seems a rather moot issue until you consider Westbrook garnered a career-high 1,217 ground yards in his somewhat limited role last year. Either way, the Eagles figure to find plenty of ways to keep the ball in their speedster's hands. His 77 catches for nearly 700 yards last season serve as a testament to that. “I would love to have more carries,” he readily admits. “But in this offense, the coaches have to try to take advantage of matchup problems as well.”
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