Sydney Brown ‘knew there were better things ahead’ with Eagles while navigating difficult 2024 season
Last season was tough for the safety Brown, who didn't play as much after ACL surgery recovery had ruined his offseason. But he's back now and getting first-team reps with Andrew Mukuba sidelined.
This time last year, Sydney Brown watched from afar. A promising 2023 rookie season ended in disaster for the safety, who tore the ACL in his right knee in the final game of the regular season at MetLife Stadium, one week after he returned an interception 99 yards for a touchdown.
The lengthy recovery following surgery ruined his offseason, and it impacted his 2024 training camp. While the Eagles went through team drills, Brown took the dreaded mental reps some 30 yards behind the action. A familiar sight from camp last year was Brown simulating action from the back of the end zone, well beyond where he’d normally line up, moving slowly and pretending like he was taking part in the play going on down the field.
“When you’re 30 yards deep, you can see everything happen. Everything happens a lot slower. But when you’re up taking physical reps, everything happens like this,” Brown said Friday, snapping his fingers. “I think physical reps are something you just can’t replicate unless you’re out there, and that was something I lost last year, so when I tried to come back, I just wasn’t ready.”
He did come back to the practice field on a more regular basis before he was cleared to play games in October, but he missed crucial time learning Vic Fangio’s scheme by playing in it. As Fangio pointed out recently, October, when practice time is minimal, isn’t the time of year to get real reps.
Brown, a third-round pick out of Illinois in 2023, played mostly on special teams after he made his season debut in Week 7. Only 75 of his 364 snaps in 2024, including the playoffs, came while playing defense — and 42 of those 75 were in a meaningless Week 18 game in which the Eagles rested their starters.
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Fast-forward to training camp, and the 25-year-old Brown is finally feeling like himself at a time when playing time is up for grabs following the trade of C.J. Gardner-Johnson.
“It’s night and day difference,” he said. “Last year, I was still learning how to run. The fact that I’m out here being able to get reps with the defense, I had a full OTAs, I had a full offseason, I was able to come out here in camp hot, and I’m just stacking each and every day, and I feel like I’m building confidence.”
It is tough to judge how a safety is performing during training camp, but the easiest indicator of where a player stands is in the rep counts. Brown has been getting the lion’s share of first-team reps next to starting safety Reed Blankenship, but that’s partially because rookie safety Andrew Mukuba, a second-round pick, has been sidelined recently by a shoulder injury.
The Eagles also are using defensive back Cooper DeJean at safety in their base defense (two corners, two safeties), which forced Brown off the field a few times Friday as the Eagles toggled between packages. Still, Brown has been seeing plenty of the field and, thanks partially to Mukuba’s injury, seems to be leading the race to start next to Blankenship when the Eagles aren’t in base, which is the majority of the time.
Brown, of course, wants to play, but he also wants Mukuba to be healthy. The rookie has been sitting next to Brown in defensive meetings, Brown said, and hasn’t hesitated to ask questions, thought Brown said Mukuba’s “a young, really instinctive safety” that hasn’t needed a lot of help along the way so far.
Mukuba missed practices on Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday before returning in a limited capacity Friday.
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“I’m excited to get him back,” Brown said of Mukuba. “But I just take advantage of reps day by day. I just try and build the trust and respect of my coaches.”
Right now, he appears to have that trust. It seemed like a three-player race between Brown, Mukuba, and Tristin McCollum entering camp, but Brown has the clear edge over McCollum right now and has taken the extra first-team reps left by Mukuba’s injury to his advantage. He knows firsthand what missing time and physical reps can do.
“He didn’t have a great opportunity last year because of his injury, and hopefully now we’ll see exactly what he can do,” Fangio said of Brown. “He had a good offseason.
“I see him getting better.”
More tests are on the horizon. The Eagles have a few more days of practice before their preseason opener Thursday night vs. Cincinnati. They then have multiple joint practices the following week before hosting Cleveland for preseason game No. 2. Mukuba should return to normal practice availability soon. It will be welcomed competition for Brown, who’s just happy last year is in the past.
Brown paused briefly and chuckled when asked Friday if he feels like 2024 was a lost year of sorts.
“I just tried to fill in where I could,” he said. “We were winning football games, so I had nothing to complain about. I just filled my role for what it was. Was I stressed out with my situation? Yeah, but I knew there were better things ahead. That’s what I’m focused on now.”