By Dan Gelston

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

PHILADELPHIA -- Shawn Andrews has spent more time posting messages and video on Twitter and YouTube than he has on the football field the last two years.

It's not by choice, his coach says.

Andrews' offbeat personality has led some Philadelphia fans and media to speculate that Andrews was more interested in sitting home and making music than playing through his back injury with the Eagles.

Eagles coach Andy Reid said Andrews really does need time to heal.

Reid put Andrews on injured reserve so the two-time Pro Bowl guard could recover and rehabilitate without rushing back to action.

"It was just hard for him to function so I just thought it was best to do that," Reid said on Wednesday. "The thing right now is just that Shawn takes care of his back. It's recurring here. I think that's the most important thing."

Andrews missed all of training camp in 2008 with depression. He returned for the season opener, but went down in Week 2 with a herniated disc.

He tweaked his back in training camp this year, never played a pre-season game and was put on injured reserve on Tuesday.

Reid declined to talk about what was found during an MRI this week on Andrews' back. Andrews' passion for football has often been but questioned, but Reid didn't think the extracurricular activities played a role in a futile attempt at a comeback.

"He didn't let that interfere with his rehab or anything else that he was doing or when he was out there practising," Reid said.

The Eagles were counting on Andrews moving from right guard to anchor the right tackle spot. The Eagles signed Andrews' brother, Stacy Andrews, and acquired his college roommate, Jason Peters, to help him out.

Stacy Andrews said his brother is really hurt and will not sink back into depression because of the injury.

"Not at all. He's a strong-minded guy," Andrews said. "He dealt with that last year. I'm going to call him and joke with him a lot like we usually do and keep him upbeat."

Running back Brian Westbrook considers Andrews a friend and will support him as he takes the year off to recover.

"There's been a lot of pressure on him as a person lately and hopefully he'll be able to make his way through," Westbrook said.

Andrews posted a steady stream of tweets on his Twitter feed Wednesday (www.twitter.com/ShawnAndrews73) thanking fans for their support.

"Man I am dealing w/ the pain. I plan on being back... I dont know if I'll be missed, but I will miss being around," he wrote.