Help is on the way. The question is where.
Vic Fangio said Tuesday he expects the Eagles to open up the practice window for defensive back Sydney Brown after the bye week.
“He's a good football player that brings energy," Fangio said. "I think he’s a good tackler. I'm excited to see him for the first time. Where he'll exactly fit in, we'll have to see.”
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Brown, the Eagles’ 3rd-round pick last year, hasn’t played since tearing his ACL in last year’s regular-season finale against the Giants at MetLife Stadium on Jan. 7.
A week earlier, he recorded the 3rd-longest interception return for a touchdown in franchise history, going 99 yards after picking off Kyler Murray. The only longer INT returns in Eagles history were by Lito Sheppard vs. the Cowboys – 102 yards off Drew Bledsoe in 2006 and 101 yards off Vinny Testaverde in 2004. The previous franchise rookie record was 87 yards by Lee Roy Caffey in 1963 off Glynn Griffing late in a 42-14 loss to the Giants at Yankee Stadium.
Brown has been on the Physically Unable to Play reserve list since the start of training camp.
“I think we're going to open up the practice window,” Fangio said. “Now, I'm not positive of that, so don't hold me to that. That has been the timeline over the last few months.”
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Once the Eagles open up Brown's practice window they would have 21 days to either activate him or place him on season-ending Injured Reserve. The Eagles are on their bye week and don’t practice again until a week from Wednesday.
Brown has been taking phantom reps off to the side at practice since spring OTAs and has been seen running on side fields. He’s already been out almost nine months.
Brown has outstanding versatility. He played 335 defensive snaps last year split almost evenly between slot and safety, but Fangio said once Brown is back practicing he’d like to limit him to one position.
“I think a guy coming back from that long a layoff, it's best to get him in one spot before you start moving him around,” he said.
Brown can play safety, slot or dime. Avonte Maddox has struggled in the slot, but rookie Cooper DeJean is earmarked for that spot, perhaps as soon as after the bye. The Eagles have Chauncey Gardner-Johnson and Reed Blankenship starting at safety, but the Eagles might feel Brown could be more useful as the third safety than at dime.
What’s most important is that a pass defense ranked 27th in the NFL, allowing 237 yards per game, is about to get some help.
“We're excited to get him coming back,” Fangio said. “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 hasn'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.”
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