McCoy: Why Wouldn’t I Want To Play?

LeSean McCoy doesn’t understand why some people think it would make sense for him to sit out the final two games of the season.

“Why would I want to play? Why wouldn’t I want to play?” McCoy said today. “They pay me to play this game. I love to play this game so why wouldn’t I play? My teammates are out there playing.”

McCoy will see his first action in over a month Sunday afternoon when the Eagles close out their home schedule with a 1 p.m. meeting against the Redskins.

McCoy suffered a concussion in the final two minutes of the Birds’ 31-6 loss to Washington on Nov. 18.

“Just like the play where I got hurt, people blame coach for it, but I wanted to be in there,”  McCoy said. “I’m a competitor so I’m going to finish the season out.”

Andy Reid echoed those sentiments.

“We’re all part of the team,” Reid said. “It’s not a hierarchy that way. That’s not how it works. You’re healthy, you play. LeSean understands that. Our team understands that. And that’s how you go about business. LeSean wouldn’t want it any other way, and that’s how I feel with it.”

While McCoy will start, he may not see his usual workload. Through 10 games, he had been averaging 17.7 carries per game. McCoy also had 40 catches.

“I’m going to keep a close eye on him,” Reid said. “It won’t be a normal workload like you’d see during the season when he’s fresh. He’s coming off an injury. I understand that so I’ll keep a close eye on him. But he’ll work in as a starter and then Bryce [Brown] has some valuable experience that he’s gained over the last few weeks so we’ll get him in there. Dion [Lewis], he’ll be up too so he’ll have a chance if we need him there.”

At fullback, Stanley Havili (hamstring) is unlikely to play. Emil Igwenagu and Chris Polk will take his place.

Meanwhile, even though Michael Vick is healthy, he could be inactive.

“Right now, he’s the third quarterback,” Reid said. “If we played today, he’d be the third quarterback. We’ll just see how things go. I just want to get him back kind of in the swing here and make sure he’s good. Right now, he feels great so just want to make sure we keep it that way.

Vick has been out since suffering a concussion against the Cowboys on Nov. 11.

Follow Sheil Kapadia on Twitter and e-mail him at skapadia@phillymag.com.
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