He can’t practice. He can’t play. He can’t do anything but wait. And who knows how long that’ll be.
When you’re in Sydney Brown’s position, it’s easy to feel disconnected and get discouraged.
After a promising finish to last year, Brown suffered a torn ACL in the season finale against the Giants in January and underwent surgery two weeks later.
Stay in the game with the latest updates on your beloved Philadelphia sports teams! Sign up here for our All Access Daily newsletter.
He’s been on the Physically Unable to Perform list since training camp started and with opening day just 16 days away, he’s likely to go on regular-season PUP when final cuts are made on Tuesday. That would mean he couldn't play until Week 5 at the earliest, which would be Oct. 13 against the Browns.
That would be about 9 ½ months from the day he got hurt.
It’s tough timing. Brown got hurt so late in the 2023 season it’s going to cut into his 2024 season.
Brown hasn’t been made available to speak since camp began, but teammate Reed Blankenship spoke after practice Tuesday about how he and the other defensive backs have made sure Brown is staying engaged and is in a good place mentally as he deals with this extended layoff.
Philadelphia Eagles
“We don't leave any man behind, no doubt,” Blankenship said. “He's a smart guy. He's an athlete and he's always there. Even in breaks, we’re always together, communicating. He'll be all right. He'll be just fine. That's one guy you really don't have to worry about.
“You saw him making plays ... last year as a rookie, so yeah, it's mentally tough, but at the end of the day he knows he has us and we’re going to pick him up.”
Brown is a fixture at practice even though he can’t practice.
Without fail, he lines up 30 or 40 yards behind the defense studying a play sheet and then mimics exactly what he would do if he were on the field.
Red zone? Then he just backs up out of the end zone.
The Eagles don’t give out timelines on injured players, so there’s no way to know when Brown will be medically cleared. It’s usually nine to 12 months before a player can return from a torn ACL, and the Eagles never rush players back.
Blankenship and C.J. Gardner-Johnson are the safety starters, but the Eagles don’t have a lot of proven depth behind them. James Bradberry and Avonte Maddox are the primary backup safeties, but Bradberry’s future here is up in the air and safety is new for Maddox. The Eagles signed Caden Sterns, but he’s still rehabbing a knee injury from last year with the Broncos. Tristin McCollum and Andre’ Sam are healthy backups. Mekhi Garner just went on Injured Reserve with a hamstring injury.
Brown can also play slot. Of his 335 snaps as a rookie, 141 – more than 40 percent – came in the slot, according to Pro Football Focus. But with Maddox and rookies Quinyon Mitchell and Cooper DeJean, the Eagles are pretty crowded at the slot.
But before we figure out where Brown fits in, he has to get healthy.
“I feel like he's doing a great job,” Blankenship said. “He's getting a lot of mental reps. You see him. He'll be watching film. You see him in little thoughts, going through his motions and stuff.
“But he's always engaged in meetings. He's always there to answer questions. (Or) if he has any questions, it's like he's preparing to go to practice or for a game.
“That's what you want to see when a guy's … coming back from injury. But he's doing a great job, he's putting in the work. Y'all don't really see a whole lot, but he's here early, he's doing stuff on his own. He'll be ready as soon as his time is called, that's for sure.”