Eagles’ Sydney Brown is finishing the long journey back from an ACL injury. How soon can he help the defense?

Sydney Brown still remembers the first time he was allowed to jump after ACL surgery. Well, he mostly remembers the panic that sank in during the rehab session roughly four months after the operation, testing his rebuilt knee for the first time.

“I thought I re-tore my ACL,” Brown said Thursday. “Like, ‘This is terrible.’ You know what I mean? Just not knowing what it’s like. Just knowing that these are little hurdles I have to get through, these are the little steps I have to take, and it’s going to be tough. I have to acclimate my knee to that type of thing.”

The Eagles safety’s long road back from the major knee injury he suffered last January hit a significant milestone earlier this week with him returning to practice. Starting the season on the Physically Unable to Perform list, Brown had previously spent practices enduring extensive rehab assignments on a separate field.

Brown would also ritualistically watch the team portion of the Eagles practices during organized team activities and training camp from the end zone behind the defense. From there, he’d go through the pre-snap routine of his position-mates on the field in an effort to download as much of new defensive coordinator Vic Fangio’s system as possible.

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The habit, something Brown said he has continued doing during the regular season, is something he first started in college and hopes will ease his transition back into the Eagles defense.

“I tried to take every rep I could,” Brown said. “Obviously I couldn’t be out there doing it, but I did take every single rep that I was on the field for. I don’t know how many reps that is, but it was probably over a thousand reps that I got mentally from the back end. If you really imagine it, you put yourself in that position, you’re going to be able to translate that to the field like it’s a full game-speed rep. I’m a firm believer in that. I did that in college.”

Brown could eventually be a useful addition to the Eagles secondary. The defense has struggled against the run on all three levels, and Brown, a third-round pick out of Illinois in 2023, earned a role during his rookie season as a nickel cornerback on early downs because of his physicality going downhill.

The 5-foot-10 and 211-pound defensive back had 45 total tackles in 14 games played (six starts) last year, most of which came with him serving as a box defender.

“He can play anywhere,” Eagles safety Reed Blankenship said. “It don’t matter the position. He has that body type, that feel for it. Wherever coach wants to put him, he’ll play. Anybody with that sort of trait, that helps us a lot, being able to play multiple positions and do different things. It takes a lot off of you, you can do different things, so it’s pretty cool to see him get back.”

In order to become a contributor, though, Brown will likely have to exercise the same patience that was often challenged during his recovery process. Fangio slow-played rookie defensive back Cooper DeJean’s integration into his defense after the second-round pick missed most of training camp with a hamstring injury, although DeJean could see a major uptick in playing time this Sunday against the Cleveland Browns.

Between the evidence of DeJean’s extended onboarding and the already-established partnership between C.J. Gardner-Johnson and Blankenship as the two deep safeties in Fangio’s system, Brown will have an uphill battle to playing time.

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When asked about his potential role, Brown said he’s eager to make a return in any fashion after being sidelined for so many months.

“It’s a long time coming,” Brown said. “I’m just excited to be back out there. Whatever role they put me at, I’ll do it to the best of my ability. I’m just excited to be back with the boys and playing football again.”

Brown called his return to practice on Wednesday “very, very limited,” noting that he spent most of it on the scout team while “inserting in some places on defense.”

“Just earning my role, whatever that is,” Brown said. “Earning the trust and respect of my teammates and the trust and respect of my coaches. That’s all I can do. Whether it’s at safety, special teams, I’ll own it to the best of my ability and dive into it.”

Perhaps the most encouraging sign for Brown: Both while fussing with it before practice and during the session itself, he was more preoccupied with the bulky brace he is required to wear rather than the status of the knee it’s there to protect.

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“I’m more thinking about the brace that I’m wearing,” Brown said. “It’s not even my choice, it’s my doctors and it’s because I’m returning earlier. So I’m just thinking about where the brace is and when I can take this [expletive] thing off.”

“But I’m going to try to make it look cool.”

The Eagles play in Week 6 against the Cleveland Browns. Join Eagles beat reporters Olivia Reiner and EJ Smith as they dissect the hottest storylines surrounding the team on Gameday Central, live from Lincoln Financial Field.