Eagles Safety Details "Long Process" in Rehab From Offseason ACL Surgery

The third-round pick from a year ago showed up at teammate DeVonta Smith's celebrity softball game and said rehab's going well, but his return won't be up to him.

Eagles safety Sydney Brown signs an autograph for a young fan during DeVonta Smith's celebrity softball game on June 29, 2024. / Ed Kracz/Eagles on SI

ALLENTOWN, Pa. – He wore a sleeve on his right leg and was able to shag flies and take swings during teammate DeVonta Smith’s celebrity softball game on the final weekend of June. Exactly how much football-related stuff he will be allowed to for the remainder of summer remains to be seen.

The Eagles will no doubt take it slowly with their emerging star safety, Sydney Brown, which calls into question his availability for the season opener against the Green Bay Packers in Brazil.

One week after making an electric 99-yard interception return for a touchdown against the Arizona Cardinals, Brown tore his ACL in the regular-season finale on the notorious turf field inside MetLife Stadium against the New Yok Giants on Jan. 7.

Brown has been in and out of the Philly area, rehabbing at the team’s NovaCare facility. He is currently in Miami spending the final few weeks before the team reports for training camp on July 23.

“Rehab’s been amazing,” said Brown as the home-run derby was being held prior to Smith’s softball game that drew approximately 8,000 fans to watch at the home of the Phillies Triple-A affiliate, the Allentown Iron Pigs.

“I’m back to moving full speed. I’m running about 22 miles per hour again, slowly climbing it up there. I’m still working on lateral movement, but I’ll be as close to 100 percent as I can by the start of the season, and we’ll see what happens with that.”

Jan 7, 2024; East Rutherford, New Jersey, USA; Philadelphia Eagles safety Sydney Brown (21) is carted off the field after an injury during the first half against the New York Giants at MetLife Stadium. Vincent Carchietta-USA TODAY Sports / Vincent Carchietta-USA TODAY Sports

It sounds like a long shot Brown will be in the lineup when the Eagles play the Packers in Sao Paulo on Sept. 6. Whether he will be able to line up in that one will depend on how much he is allowed to do in training camp.

If Brown had his way, he said he would be there.

“It’s going to be slow,” he said. “It’s a long process, right? We start in a month. At the start of the season, it will be seven or eight months (since the injury and subsequent surgery). If they allow me to go, I’m going to go. But it’s not really up to me, it’s up to the doctors. If it was up to me, I would have returned (already).”

Brown played in 14 games last year as a rookie third-round draft pick, making six starts. In 29 percent of the defensive snap, he made 38 tackles with one forced fumble and that pick-six versus the Cardinals.

Cornerback Isaiah Rodgers followed the Eagles after the team signed him in August two months after he had been suspended in June for violating the NFL’s gambling policy which led to his release from the Indianapolis Colts.

“That’s my guy,” said Rodgers, who won the home run derby with 12 homers. “He took me under his wing even though I’m older than him, but when I first got in the facility, he was my workout partner, so that’s my guy.

“He’s a baller. I saw the pick-six against Arizona. Plays like that show he’s a great player.”

More NFL: Perfect Day For Eagles Receiver While Newcomer Has "Welcome to Philly" Moment