October 08, 2024
The Philadelphia Eagles announced on Monday night that they have opened the 21-day practices windows for S Sydney Brown to return from the PUP list, and for WR Ainias Smith to return from injured reserve.
Brown tore an ACL in the regular season finale against the Giants last season, and he missed the entirety of training camp as well as the first four games of the 2024 season.
Brown was a core special teamer as a rookie in 2023 who only played 335 snaps in the regular defense, despite the team suffering quite a few injuries at safety. He was oddly buried on the depth chart early in the season behind Band-Aids like Justin Evans and Terrell Edmunds, playing just 16 snaps the first three weeks of the season before missing the next three games with a hamstring injury. When he got extended action in games later in the season, it was typically out of position at slot corner, where he was filling in for Avonte Maddox and Bradley Roby, after guys like Mario Goodrich and Josiah Scott proved to be ineffective.
Still, Brown showed promise as a rookie, with his highlight of the season being a 99-yard pick-six against the Cardinals.
It will be interesting to see how Vic Fangio uses Brown.
"We're excited to get him coming back," Fangio said last week. "We all have to have some patience, which I know isn't a big virtue amongst any of us at this time of the year. The guy hadn't played any football since his injury, I believe was the first week of January last year. Here we are, in October, and his OTAs and training camp are going to have to be squished together fast, which he is ready to do mentally and emotionally. But we have to be careful ourselves to not overdo it with him. Overdo it from a physical standpoint and an expectation standpoint.
"I think he's a good football player that brings energy. I think he’s a good tackler. I'm excited to see him, you know, for the first time. Because I do think he's a good football player. Where he'll exactly fit in, we'll have to see."
Smith is a fifth-round rookie who was overcoming a stress fracture in his left shin. He had a bad spring and a disappointing start to training camp, but he started to play better late in the summer. He seemed destined to survive cuts as a result, but also did not feel like a player ready to contribute anytime soon. It was revealed just before cutdowns that he landed on injured reserve with an ankle injury, thus temporarily saving the Eagles a roster spot while also being able to keep Smith.
According to a report from James Palmer, A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith are expected to play Week 6 against the Browns.
My understanding is the #eagles are expecting to have their top WRs A.J. Brown (hamstring) and DeVonta Smith (concussion) back this week vs the #browns.
— James Palmer (@JamesPalmerTV) October 7, 2024
This is #AsExpected. Brown missed three games with a hamstring injury, while Smith missed one game with a concussion. The Eagles will also very likely have RT Lane Johnson (concussion) back against the Browns.
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