Eagles’ Sydney Brown is eager for his knee injury — and the team’s defense — to recover

After suffering a torn ACL in his right knee in the Eagles’ regular-season finale against the New York Giants, rookie safety Sydney Brown is slated to undergo surgery next week.

Brown, 23, was hurt on punt coverage while attempting to tackle Giants returner Gunner Olszewski, preventing Brown from playing in the postseason. The native of London, Ontario, said he knew immediately that he suffered a torn ACL, marking a disappointing end to his first season with the Eagles.

“Not that I’ve ever done it before, but it was just one of those feelings where you know what’s going on right in the moment,” Brown told The Inquirer on Wednesday. “So I just kind of accepted it right there and kind of took a day where I was like, man, I was pretty sad about it. But ... it’s just another opportunity to show what I can do, kind of persevere.”

Brown will undergo surgery in the Philadelphia area. In the meantime, he has been spending time with his twin brother, Chase, who traveled to Philly after the conclusion of his rookie season at running back with the Cincinnati Bengals. They watched the Eagles’ 32-9 wild-card loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers together.

After surgery, Brown plans on beginning his rehab locally, then continuing the process in Champaign, Ill., the home of his alma mater, Illinois. For now, he is just trying to stay present as he prepares for surgery.

“Just kind of focusing on the rehab before we get to surgery and that’s it,” said Brown, a third-round pick by the Eagles in 2023. “Just kind of taking it day by day. Really, it’s out of my control until the surgery happens and then just trying to stay strong and keep going.”

In his rookie season, Brown played 14 games and started six, taking 335 defensive snaps (35% of the snaps in games he was available to play) and 220 special-teams snaps (59%). Brown had a 99-yard pick-six against the Arizona Cardinals in Week 17, the first touchdown of his NFL career. He also posted 45 tackles, one tackle for a loss, one forced fumble, and three pass breakups.

Brown wasn’t the only safety sidelined for the wild-card game. Starter Reed Blankenship was a game-time decision with a groin injury and was ruled out when the inactive players were released 90 minutes before kickoff. Nickel cornerback Avonte Maddox ultimately started in his place alongside veteran Kevin Byard.

Blankenship said Wednesday that surgery is “possibly” on the table, but he estimates that the injury would affect him for “less than a month.”

The Eagles’ defense struggled this season under two play-callers in defensive coordinator Sean Desai (Weeks 1-14) and senior defensive assistant Matt Patricia (Weeks 15-18 plus the postseason). In the regular season, the defense allowed the 30th-highest total of points per game in the league (25.2) and was 26th in yards allowed (356.1).

The defense ranked second-to-last in third-down conversion percentage (46.4%), 25th in fourth-down conversion percentage (55.9%), and 30th in red-zone percentage (66.1%). The defense did not show improvement upon switching to Patricia as play-caller. Brown said there was a lot that went into that transition.

“It’s not easy to learn a new system,” Brown said. “Especially when you’re putting guys in position not to be successful at what they do. It doesn’t really work towards the benefit of the players that you have. That’s really what we are a product of.

“There’s no reason why we couldn’t have won the Super Bowl this year with the roster that we have. But it is all about putting your players in the right position to be successful. And, like, using your pieces in the right way to dominate the team against you. That just all comes from practice and preparation, from coaching and us as players. So it’ll turn around. It’s just lessons learned. It’s life.”

Brown said he’s looking forward to the draft, which will bring in new faces that can make an impact on the team, but he said that the Eagles have “got everything here to make it happen.”

“I just think there was a bunch going on and kind of turned guys away, kind of put a disconnect in that back end for a little bit,” Brown added.

Despite the way the season ended for the team and for Brown at an individual level, the 23-year-old safety is looking forward to rebounding from his injury and evolving into an even better player.

“It kind of puts you in a dark place, and it’s just the best lessons are learned from these things,” Brown said. “You learn a lot about yourself, your character, just your love for the game, just more appreciation for the game. Because this thing can be taken away from you so fast. I’m not sad. I’m [expletive] excited to get back and train. It’s going to be great.”

The Atlanta Falcons said Thursday that they interviewed Eagles offensive coordinator Brian Johnson for their head coaching vacancy.

Its the first team to have confirmed interviewing Johnson for its opening and the third known team with interest, according to several reports. ESPN reported last week that Johnson was expected to interview with the Carolina Panthers for their head coaching position. Additionally, according to a report from Bleacher Report last week, the Tennessee Titans asked to interview Johnson for their opening at head coach.

Among the Falcons’ head coaching candidates are former New England Patriots coach Bill Belichick, University of Michigan head coach Jim Harbaugh, Baltimore Ravens assistant head coach/defensive line Anthony Weaver, and Panthers defensive coordinator Ejiro Evero. The NFL Network reported Thursday that the Falcons will conduct a second interview with Belichick this weekend.

Johnson, 36, just finished his third season with the Eagles, his first as offensive coordinator. With Johnson calling the plays, the Eagles completed the regular season ranked seventh in the league in scoring (25.4 points per game) and eighth in yards (354.4 yards per game).

However, the Eagles floundered at the end of the season, averaging 20.5 points per game in their final six games, which is nearly an eight-point drop-off from the average over their first 11 contests. Before taking over for Shane Steichen as offensive coordinator this season, Johnson served as the Eagles’ quarterbacks coach from 2021-22.