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"The problem was what our doctors anticipated," Reid said.
"(Westbrook) should have a nice, clean recovery."
He’ll be out of commission for the late April minicamp immediately following the NFL Draft, but Reid says there is a chance Westbrook will be healthy for subsequent minicamps later in the spring.
Jackson (6-4, 330-pounds) was signed by the Eagles as a rookie free agent following the 2003 draft. He played in all four preseason games last summer before being released as part of the club’s final roster cutdown Aug. 31, and was later added to the practice squad. The native of Miami played collegiately at Delaware State.
"He’s earned that," Reid said of the promotion. "He’s a good player. We’re banged up (on the offensive line) and we need people who can play."
McCoo (5-10, 210) played college ball at Penn State, where he finished his career ranked ninth on the school’s all-time rushing list with 2,518 yards. He spent the past two training camps with Chicago after being signed by the Bears as a rookie free agent in 2002. The 23-year old McCoo is a native of Red Bank, N.J.
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The NFC East coaching ranks doubled Wednesday with the introduction of Tom Coughlin as the new headman with the New York Giants, and the stunning news that Joe Gibbs was returning to the Washington Redskins.
The two will join Reid and the Dallas Cowboys’ Bill Parcells, giving the division four high-profile head coaches. It also leaves Reid, 45, as the longest tenured coach in the division, but also the youngest, by far, of the foursome.
Coughlin, 57, signed a four-year contract worth about $3 million per year to replace Jim Fassel. The 63-year-old Gibbs was lured away from NASCAR after 11 years by a five-year, $25 million deal. Parcells is 62 and makes more than $4 million per season.
"I think those are two very good football coaches," said Reid, who expressed surprise at the news of Gibbs’ hiring. "I’ve always said we’re in this thing for the competition part of it. They will have both those teams playing very well."
In the NFC East head-coach pecking order, Reid now has four more years at the helm with his current team and is at least a dozen years younger than the rest. And with a yearly salary of about $2.5 million per year, Reid is at the bottom of the financial ladder.
"This is a league for now," said cornerback Troy Vincent. "When free agency started, looking into the future was over. Coaches are just like players. If they don’t perform, owners are removing them. It’s about now."
