Saturday's missed meetings and practice was the latest in a series of controversies surrounding Michael Westbrook. (AP File Photo)

By Mark Maske
Washington Post Staff Writer
Monday, November 2, 1998; Page D1

The Washington Redskins fined wide receiver Michael Westbrook approximately $4,000 for missing the team's meetings and practice-field walkthrough Saturday at Redskin Park, sources close to the situation said yesterday.

Westbrook, as Coach Norv Turner promised Saturday night, was on the Redskins' inactive list yesterday and was not with the team for its 21-14 victory over the New York Giants at Jack Kent Cooke Stadium.

Turner told Westbrook on Saturday not to join the team at its hotel that night or at the stadium yesterday, Redskins officials said. But the Redskins intend to allow Westbrook to return today and are hopeful that both sides will put the incident behind them, sources said.

General Manager Charley Casserly and several Redskins players expressed their support yesterday for the swift disciplinary action Turner took against the team's leading receiver, who said he missed the meetings and walkthrough because he was ill.

"I support Coach Turner," Casserly said.

Running back and kick returner Brian Mitchell said: "Whatever Norv did, you have to support him. I don't know what went down. It depends on what [Westbrook's] excuse is. If it's something that doesn't make much sense why he wasn't there, then I'll feel like he let the team down. But I don't know at this point."

Veteran cornerback Darrell Green said he, too, backed the coach's decision.

"I wasn't on the jury," he said. "I just support whatever they do. Norv should get credit for us winning this game. He got the blame when we were losing. He makes tough decisions, like with Michael Westbrook, and lived with them."

Redskins wide receiver Leslie Shepherd spoke to Westbrook by telephone, and echoed the sentiments expressed by Westbrook on Saturday – that Westbrook desperately wanted to play in yesterday's game and was upset with Turner's decision.

"He called me," Shepherd said. "We're pretty close. All I'll say on his behalf is, he wanted to play. He was disappointed and upset he wasn't able to play."

Turner mostly avoided the subject yesterday, saying that he would address it further today.

"I'd really rather talk about the guys who played" yesterday, Turner said following the Redskins' first win of the season.

Turner said on Saturday that there could be further repercussions resulting from what he called "an unexcused absence." But he also indicated he was hopeful that the situation would be "handled right by all the parties," and there won't be futher implications for Westbrook.

With the NFL trading deadline already past, the Redskins could cut Westbrook, but sources said that's unlikely because team officials don't want to lose such a talented player and get nothing in return. The most likely outcome apparently is that Westbrook will play the remainder of this season with the Redskins, and team officials will consider trading him during the offseason.

Westbrook, who earns about $70,000 per game, said Saturday that he had been sick from something he ate Friday night. He tried but failed to notify team officials that he would be late for work Saturday, he said. When he finally got through on the phone as he was driving to Redskin Park, he said, he was told to go home.

A Redskins employee checked on Westbrook at his home later in the day, and Turner spoke to Westbrook by telephone Saturday afternoon.

"I was on the floor vomiting," Westbrook said Saturday. "I was so sick, I can't tell you. I realized I was being late. As soon as I stopped throwing up, I got into the truck and I started calling out there to tell somebody I was on the way.

"I'm trying to change people's perceptions of me. I really want to play [yesterday]. I'm ticked off. . . . I really want to play."

The Redskins started Albert Connell in Westbrook's place yesterday, and Connell and James Thrash combined for six catches for 61 yards. That – and a win – ensured that there would be little or no locker-room resentment of Turner's decision.

"It was something he had to do," linebacker Marvcus Patton said. "I don't know what Michael's excuse was. He's a great player. I'm not thinking about it like he let us down. I know there are other players on this team capable of stepping in there and doing the job."

Staff writer Michael Wilbon contributed to this report.