Eagles open the practice windows for S Sydney Brown and WR Ainias Smith

Brown is recovering from ACL surgery while Smith is on injured reserve with an ankle injury.

Eagles safety Sydney Brown suffered a torn ACL injury last January against the New York Giants.Read moreYong Kim / Staff Photographer

Published Oct. 7, 2024, 6:34 p.m. ET

The Eagles’ first practice of the bye week will include the return of Sydney Brown and Ainias Smith.

After spending the first four weeks of the regular season on the physically unable to perform list and the injured reserve list, respectively, the Eagles opened the 21-day practice windows for the two young players on Monday. The team will likely hold its first practice coming out of the bye week on Wednesday.

Brown, a third-round pick in 2023, is returning from a torn ACL injury suffered last January against the New York Giants. The former Illinois standout carved out a role as a box defender during his rookie season and appeared in six games as a result. Brown will have an uphill battle displacing C.J. Gardner-Johnson or Reed Blankenship on the back end of the Eagles defense, but he could eventually earn a role as a situational nickel cornerback or a third safety, especially considering his past success combating the run.

“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,” Brown said last month. “I’ll embrace it to 100 percent, so I can be that for what they need.”

Smith started the year on injured reserve because of an ankle injury he reported to the team after the preseason finale. The fifth-round rookie out of Texas A&M started the regular season on IR and will be the beneficiary of the newly implemented league rule allowing teams to designate up to two players initially on IR to return after four weeks.

The 5-foot-9, 176-pound receiver got off to a slow start during his first training camp, but had six catches for 36 yards in the Eagles’ preseason finale loss to the Vikings.