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What Eagles’ Brandon Brooks learned about himself this season | Early Birds

Brooks is unafraid of his upcoming shoulder rehab and has some newfound wisdom on life on and off the field.

Eagles defensive end Brandon Graham (left) and offensive guard Brandon Brooks embrace as players clean out their lockers Monday.
Eagles defensive end Brandon Graham (left) and offensive guard Brandon Brooks embrace as players clean out their lockers Monday.Read moreDAVID MAIALETTI / Staff Photographer

Hello, Eagles fans. I know you’re still smarting from Sunday’s loss, so I’ll skip the usually cheerful greeting. The Eagles’ players have cleaned out their lockers and gotten the offseason going. There’s a lot up in the air, with some major players becoming free agents and others going into the final year of their contract seeking new deals. Be sure to read up on all the goings on with the links below.

Brandon Brooks’ future is a lot more certain than most. He’s under contract through 2024. He’s completely unafraid of his upcoming shoulder rehab and has some newfound wisdom on life on and off the field. More on that later.

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EJ Smith (earlybirds@inquirer.com)

Brooks back in the rehabilitation process

Brandon Brooks described the gruesome process of his arm being ripped out of its socket and breaking a bone, but then took a pause to give some perspective.

“I tore my Achillies [last year], this is way easier than that,” Brooks said on Monday before cleaning out his locker. “This is all right. Not a big deal.”

Brooks is headed for surgery to repair a separated shoulder and a broken bone in his shoulder socket. He was hurt against the New York Giants when two players ran into him on an extra point, bending his arm backward and requiring him to be carted off. He was placed on injured reserve last week and watched the Seahawks game from the sideline.

It will be the second straight offseason of rehab for Brooks, who tore his Achilles last January against the New Orleans Saints and made a remarkably quick recovery to be back for Week 1 this season against Washington. Brooks said he will have surgery later this week to repair the broken bone in his shoulder socket. The recovery process shouldn’t take as long as last year’s Achilles, he said, but it will be a familiar process of returning to the field.

The 30-year-old guard had a career year. Pro Football Focus gave him the highest grade for an offensive lineman this season, and he was voted to his third straight Pro Bowl.

Brooks first revealed that he struggles with anxiety in 2017 when he missed two games that season. He left the Eagles’ first game against the Seahawks this season after vomiting before and during the game left him exhausted and unable to play.

The guard said he learned two things about himself this season.

“Confidence goes a long way,” Brooks said. "I was really confident going into this season based on all the work I did; I think it really showed. I was able to play and move around and do what I needed to do.

“The second thing is, you know, nothing’s ever perfect,” he added. "Nothing’s ever guaranteed to you, but life is good enough. I think people always try to figure how to get something super perfect or exactly this way, when in actuality, the [stuff] is good enough, man. I mean, people stress over a lot of little stuff.”

What you need to know about the Eagles

  1. The Eagles’ leaders acknowledged the team played better after some of its players exited. Jeff McLane explores what that means for next year.

  2. Nelson Agholor took some time to reflect on the last five years with the Eagles before he enters free agency, as Paul Domowitch details.

  3. While they’re not entering free agency, Malcolm Jenkins and Zach Ertz were among a few players currently wondering about their futures with the team, as Les Bowen writes.

  4. Much has been made of Jadeveon Clowney’s hit on Carson Wentz, Bob Ford argues that it’s a part of football, whether Eagles fans want to admit it or not.

  5. Marcus Hayes writes that Wentz has to learn to be safer on the field because there are a lot of Clowneys around the NFL.

  6. Speaking of Clowney, he had some harsh words regarding Eagles fans after Sunday’s game, as Rob Tornoe and David Murphy write.

  7. Also from Bowen: The Eagles’ season didn’t end the way they wanted, but they’ve found an NFL running back in Boston Scott, who performed until the final moments of the season.

  8. Science reporter Tom Avril wrote about the uncertain effects a head injury could have on Wentz, but leaves no doubt that it was wise to hold him out.

  9. The Eagles’ biggest rival got a new coach on Monday. Mike McCarthy is the Cowboys’ new head man.

  10. From Tornoe: Carson Wentz’s injury drew several bad takes, and a number of apologies.

From the mailbag

Do you think Peters would accept to come back as a mentor/backup? — Kurt Nudel (@KurtCNudel) via Twitter.

Thanks for the question, Kurt. Jason Peters’ situation is going to be interesting to watch this offseason. I don’t think Peters is interested in coming back just to mentor Andre Dillard while he tries to replace the 37-year-old tackle. Peters said he thought he played at an elite level this season and thinks he’s got another year or two at that level. Clearly he struggled mightily with false-start penalties. He had 11 this season, including the playoffs, and had seven false starts in the last six games of the season.

In Peters’ defense, he did manage to start 13 games, only missing a few weeks with a knee injury that required arthroscopic surgery. PFF gave him the seventh-highest grade among offensive tackles this season. I say all this to point out what makes this even more interesting: Peters isn’t as good as he used to be, but he’s still likely a starting-quality offensive tackle. But the team moved up to draft Dillard, and he represented himself quite well when relieving Peters earlier this year. I think he’ll have suitors in free agency, and my guess is he spends next season on a team with less talent at tackle.