July 25, 2019
The Philadelphia Eagles will place some players on the Physically Unable to Perform (PUP) list at some point today. As notable as the players who will be on it is one who isn't. That would be starting RG Brandon Brooks, who is practicing on the first day of camp.
With Brooks still recovering from a torn Achilles suffered in the Philadelphia Eagles' playoff loss to the New Orleans Saints a mere six-plus months ago, it seemed like a foregone conclusion that he would start training camp on PUP.
Apparently not. Earlier this morning, PhillyVoice reported that Mills would be on PUP, and that Ronald Darby wouldn't. Within that report, we explained the mechanics of the PUP list, noted here:
The PUP list is a tool teams use for players prior to the start of training camp, in case the player is not ready for the start of the regular season. The PUP list must be applied to a player prior to the start of training camp, or it cannot be used at all. Once a player practices in camp, at all, they immediately become ineligible for the PUP list both during the preseason and the regular season. The player cannot participate in practice while on the PUP list.
The benefit of the PUP list is that a player is eligible to come off of it during training camp, or, if the team deems it necessary, after the first six weeks of the regular season. Once the regular season starts and the player remains on the PUP list, they must spend the entirety of the first six weeks on the PUP list, and they would not count toward one of the 53 roster spots. (They would still count toward one of the 90 roster spots while on PUP during the preseason.)
Brooks is coming off a pair of (deserved) Pro Bowl nods in 2017 and 2018, but his availability for Week 1 was always going to be in question. In spring practices, Halapoulivaati Vaitai was taking first-team reps at RG in Brooks' absence. The bet here is that Vaitai will still get those reps while Brooks continues to work toward getting back into game shape.
Of course, just because Brooks isn't on PUP doesn't mean he will necessarily be ready to play Week 1. If you'll recall, Carson Wentz did not go on PUP last training camp as he continued to recover from a torn ACL/LCL, and he missed the first two weeks of the season. But certainly, Brooks' ability to practice in some capacity is obviously a great sign that his recovery is going well.
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