Eagles Rookie Sydney Brown: Could Slot Be The Spot?

Philadelphia Eagles rookie Sydney Brown spent a week learning to play the position at the NFL level with the team's slot corner coach Ronell Williams

TAMPA, Fla. – This is where a slot cornerback coach comes in handy and, in the case of the Philadelphia Eagles' Ronell Williams, really must start earning his keep, now.

Rookie Sydney Brown and Williams spent the 10 days between the Eagles' Week 2 over the Minnesota Vikings win and the Week 3 victory over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on a crash course of playing the slot.

With Avonte Maddox (torn pec) and Zech McPhearson (Achilles), both lost for the season with injuries, the Eagles need someone to step up.

That someone appears to be Brown.

“He took a lot of time with me, I had a lot of one-on-one meetings with him, and he really dove into it and committed to helping me learn the position throughout the week,” said Brown about Williams after the Eagles finished off the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, 25-11, to move to 3-0 on Monday night.

“Obviously still a lot of work to do, but in such a short period he did a great job filling me in and making sure I was ready.”

Brown made an appearance early and made a key play midway through the second quarter with the Eagles nursing a 3-0 lead. On a third-and-nine throw from Philly’s 15, Baker Mayfield looked to have Mike Evans open in the end zone. It would have given Tampa a 7-3 lead and plenty of momentum.

Instead, Brown made up ground quickly and was able to get a hand in Evan’s midsection as he tried to secure the ball. Instead, it fell to the ground and the Bucs had to settle for a field goal.

Brown, who had played mostly on special teams in the first two games, played just 12 defensive snaps but would have played more had he not suffered a lower hamstring injury.

“It’s not a big thing,” he said. “I can go in there and do everything I can, but I didn’t want to hurt the team. The team’s bigger than my injury. I feel good, but it could turn a one-week injury into a four-week injury. In the scheme of things, it sucks now but in the long run, it’s going to be good.”

Sydney Brown breaks up a potential touchdown pass to Mike Evans / USA Today

The Eagles are one of the few teams to have a secondary coach entirely devoted to working with slot cornerbacks. And now they have to be happy they went that direction with Williams, who is a Philly product, attending Chester High School before becoming an All-American at West Chester University.

“How many times have you seen a guy in the NFL make his way early on in his career in special teams, and then take off after that when he gets himself an opportunity?” said head coach Nick Sirianni. 

“Obviously, practice is what gives us our confidence in Sydney, and things that he’s done in practice, but then him making plays in preseason games – him making plays on special teams when the lights are on give us a lot of confidence.”

The Eagles moved James Bradberry into the slot on occasion on Monday, but he is an All-Pro outside cornerback. That is where Philly would prefer to keep him, but that will depend on Brown’s development inside.

He doesn’t believe it will take long. Playing close to the line of scrimmage is something he did during his successful college career at the University of Illinois.

“Nickel feels more like home for me if I’m being real,” he said, "but I want to be effective any way I can, if that’s at nickel, if that’s at safety, whatever that is.”

Brown said that there are some differences, especially with technique and certain leverages, but something he shouldn’t be able to master sooner rather than later.

“Just fine-tuning the little stuff,” he said, “so hopefully this week I can come in and take a little pressure off of James and they can throw him back at corner and do whatever I can to help this team at the nickel.”

The Eagles host the Washington Commanders on Sunday at 1 p.m.