The Brandon Brooks injury has been one of the stranger story lines for the Philadelphia Eagles this season.
When he initially strained his pectoral back in Week 2, he landed on injured reserve and the time table for return was about eight weeks. He’s now been sidelined for 11 weeks and we haven’t heard much of anything on his recovery. The emergence of Jack Driscoll made Brooks‘ absence less noticeable, but now that Driscoll is out for the season, Brooks’ return to the lineup would be welcomed.
Ed Kracz of SI’s EaglesMaven.com believes Brooks could be back as soon as this week against Washington. Any reinforcements before the team’s playoff push would be crucial.
Here’s what Kracz had to say on the matter when he appeared on the Birds 365 podcast with Jody Mac and John McMullen:
He’s kind of kept us on the edge of our seats with that information… I expect (Nick Sirianni) is going to have information for us on Wednesday, and it’s been kind of interesting because if you look at Brandon Brooks’ ability to heal quickly… It’s kind of bizarre, I think, that here we are. He had a pec strain. I don’t know if he needed surgery or not. Maybe we’ll get information that he actually did have surgery… It’s kind of odd that he hasn’t come back already… I think we’re going to hear ‘he’s coming back on Wednesday. I really do. I think he’s going to return for this stretch run. That’s just my hunch.“
Kracz is a well connected source of insider information on the Eagles, so he’s probably not far off here.
The Eagles offensive line has been remarkably good this season, even without Brooks in the lineup. Philly has one of the highest graded offensive lines in all of football, according to Pro Football Focus. Jason Kelce and Jordan Mailata both rank inside the top-10 at their respective positions. Lane Johnson is the 19th-highest ranked tackle, and Landon Dickerson ranks 34th in overall grade for guards.
Nate Herbig is the only weakness along the line at the moment, but he hasn’t given up a sack and his PFF pass blocking efficiency comes out to 97.6 on the year, which is higher than both Mailata and Dickerson.
Regardless, Brooks is still a clear upgrade at the position over Herbig. He was one of the best guards in all of football in 2019, his last fully healthy season. He only surrendered two sacks on 647 pass blocking snaps.
The Eagles formula for offensive success is clear — run the football and control the clock. Any additions that can further help that cause will only help the Eagles’ chances of making the postseason. Brooks obviously provides that.
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