Eagles' Brett Toth Confirms Knee Surgery

The versatile backup OL is expected to have a 9-month rehab

Eagles backup offensive lineman Brett Toth was forced to leave the team's Week 18 season-finale against the Dallas Cowboys with a knee injury and was quickly placed on injured reserve.

The former Army Black Knight wrote he recently underwent surgery due to the injury and noted a nine-month rehab period which would typically point to an ACL injury, something a league source confirmed to SI.com's Eagle Maven.

A second lieutenant in the Army, Toth earned a degree in nuclear engineering in 2018 at West Point and began his military career before being awarded a waiver from the Department of Defense to pursue an NFL career,

Toth was graded as the nation's fifth-best run-blocking OT in 2017 and became the first Army player to be invited to the Senior Bowl something Eagles' OL coach Jeff Stoutland filed away and the Eagles signed Toth as an undrafted free agent before the 2019 season.

Having spent time away from the game Toth had to put on weight and get back into playing shape and the hope from Philadelphia was that it would get Toth through waivers and onto the practice squad but Arizona had other ideas and was willing to claim Toth and carry him on the roster while he worked his way back into football condition.

By September of 2020, the Cards waived/injured Toth, and once he was cleared the Eagles claimed him in October with Toth ping-ponging back and forth between Philadelphia's practice squad and 53-man roster ever since.

In 2020 Toth played in six games and started his first career game at RT vs. Washington in Week 17.

This past season Toth played in 11 games and participated in 53 offensive snaps.  

A natural tackle, who has cross-trained at guard, maybe the most interesting development for Toth this season was working at center in practice last in the season when All-Pro Jason Kelce was given maintenance days and then being inserted for Kelce in Week 18 at Dallas after one snap which enabled Kelce to keep his 122 consecutive game starting streak alive.

Toth's increased versatility and ability to play all five positions up front should only help him moving forward when trying to earn a backup spot on a deep offensive line but the nine-month rehab period will prevent him from participating in OTAs and minicamp leading up to training camp.

-John McMullen contributes Eagles coverage for SI.com's EagleMaven and is the NFL Insider for JAKIB Media. You can listen to John, alongside legendary sports-talk host Jody McDonald every morning from 8-10 on ‘Birds 365,” streaming live on both PhillyVoice.com and YouTube. John is also the host of his own show "Extending the Play" on AM1490 in South Jersey. You can reach him at jmcmullen44@gmail.com or on Twitter @JFMcMullen

Ed Kracz is the publisher of SI.com’s Eagle Maven and co-host of the Eagles Unfiltered Podcast. Check out the latest Eagles news at www.SI.com/NFL/Eagles or www.eaglemaven.com and please follow him on Twitter: @kracze.