Eagles locker room: Sydney Brown nearing return; Tampa homecomings for Isaiah Rodgers, Devin White

If Sydney Brown had the power to go back in time and prevent his ACL tear, he wouldn’t do it.

There’s nothing he would change about the moment his rookie season ended at MetLife Stadium against the New York Giants in the Eagles’ regular-season finale on special teams when attempting to tackle the punt returner. With the benefit of perspective, the 2023 third-round pick out of Illinois said the injury and the eight-month rehabilitation process that followed provided him with lessons in mental toughness that he will carry with him for the rest of his life.

The first lesson came swiftly. While sitting in the Giants’ visitors locker room, Brown realized that wallowing in self-pity wouldn’t serve him well in his quest to return to full health.

“People are going to give you the, ‘Oh, I feel terrible for you’ in the moment,’ ” Brown said on Thursday. “But really, at the end of the day, nobody gives a [expletive]. Honestly, you know what I mean? I mean, I’ve got a great support staff in here and my teammates that care, but it’s just, the only thing that matters is how you return and how you come back.

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“[Because] there’s two options. You can become a product of your ACL or you can act like this [expletive] never happened. Just fight back stronger than you were before.”

Brown is choosing the latter option. Soon enough, the second-year safety will look to put his hard work in rehab into action on the gridiron. Brown, who is on the physically unable to perform list, said he expects the Eagles to open his 21-day practice window after the bye week in the lead-up to their matchup against the Cleveland Browns. From there, Brown said “we’ll see what happens.”

It’s been eight months to the day on Friday since Brown underwent surgery. During his rehab in which he worked closely with Jerome Reid, the Eagles’ senior athletic trainer, Brown said he understood that “you can either let the process eat you or you can eat up the process.” He has channeled that mindset throughout the offseason, whether he was training in Philly or back on campus in Champaign, Ill., with his college trainers.

“Whenever I had a big-time injury at Illinois, I was able to come back even stronger with them,” Brown said. “So I just based out there for six weeks, and then I did a lot of it here throughout OTAs. I was in Miami for a while and kind of bouncing, made crazy progress, and as I came back, we’ve been flying ever since.”

Before the season began, Brown said he felt like he could have come back for the season opener. Still, he admitted that returning at the six-and-a-half-month mark wouldn’t have been ideal for an injury of his severity.

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The precise role that Brown could fill in Vic Fangio’s defense remains in question, considering Reed Blankenship and C.J. Gardner-Johnson have taken the entirety of the starting snaps at safety since the beginning of training camp. Last year, Brown lined up just about everywhere as a hybrid safety/linebacker, including free safety, in the slot, and in the box. The week before he tore his ACL, Brown made one of his most memorable plays of the season as the single-high safety when he recorded a 99-yard pick-six in a loss to the Arizona Cardinals.

He was also the Eagles’ leader in special-teams tackles, contributing primarily on kick coverage and kick return. As the anticipation for his return builds, Brown grows more excited to join his teammates in game action, regardless of his role on the field.

“I think that the most important thing is just what I can do to add value to the room and to this team in whatever role they give me, I’ll embrace it to 100% so I can be that for what they need,” Brown said.

Sunday’s road game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers doubles as homecomings for Isaiah Rodgers and Devin White, albeit in different ways.

Rodgers, the 26-year-old cornerback, is a native of the city and a product of Howard W. Blake High School. He lived at his home in Tampa last year when he was suspended for violating the league’s gambling policy while a member of the Indianapolis Colts.

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Now with the Eagles, Rodgers returns to his home state with the perspective that his year away from the game instilled within him. Even though he is waiting for his chance to contribute on defense in his current reserve role, Rodgers said he already dealt with the “worst of the worst” last year when he was sidelined. He is appreciative of his opportunity with the Eagles, no matter how big or small of a part he plays on the field.

“I had four [special-teams] plays last week, which is more than I did all last year,” Rodgers said. “That’s all I really think about is, I wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for my family and friends back home. Really just being appreciative of the moment right now.”

Rodgers said he has a lot of friends, family, and even children from youth teams in the area coming out to support him at the game. He plans on wearing custom Tampa-themed cleats during warm-ups, with one shoe honoring the city and the other bearing imagery related to his high school.

White, the 26-year-old inside linebacker who signed with the Eagles in the offseason, was the fifth overall pick by the Buccaneers in 2019 out of LSU. He spent the first five seasons of his career in Tampa, winning a Super Bowl in 2020 and earning a Pro Bowl nod the following season.

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But the linebacker hasn’t played a single snap with the Eagles. White was inactive for the season opener with an ankle injury, but he had already lost the starting gig to Nakobe Dean out of camp. In the two games since then, White has been a healthy scratch. Still, he has tried to stay positive.

“Mentally, I’ve got God on my side, so I’m very good,” White said. “Emotionally, very positive person. Enjoy coming to work. And physically, best I’ve been. Just feeling good.”

Even though he doesn’t expect to play, White is looking forward to seeing some of his former Buccaneers teammates. He also plans on stopping by his home in the area, where his brother, John, resides. However, White isn’t expecting him to attend the game.

“If he wants to go to the game, I’ll get him some tickets,” White said. “But other than that, nobody’s coming. [Expletive], ‘cause I ain’t playing, so it won’t matter. When I start playing, they’ll start coming.”

The Eagles play in Week 4 against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Join Eagles beat reporters Olivia Reiner and EJ Smith as they dissect the hottest storylines surrounding the team on Gameday Central, live from Raymond James Stadium.