Normally when a player's body starts to break down, he has injuries in numerous areas. This is what you're seeing now with Brian Westbrook.
You could tell last year, that it was becoming more difficult for Westbrook to recover after games. It seemed that he was still hurting on Friday from last week's game.
It was his body's way of telling him that it can't take much more pounding.
I don't have any idea how many carries Westbrook's legs have in them, but I know it's not more than two years worth.
If I were the Eagles I would try to preserve every one of those carries I could preserve.
If and when Westbrook returns from his surgery, the Eagles shouldn't let him carry the ball more than 15 times in a game.
They should sign a veteran backup, who can take some of the carries during the season. Of course LeSean McCoy will get some of those carries as well.
The key as I see it, is to get to the post season with a healthy Brian Westbrook and to ttry to get two years out of him.