The Philadelphia Eagles made a notable change at one of their starting safety spots earlier this week, moving safety Sydney Brown into the lineup for rookie Andrew Mukuba. Mukuba was placed on injured reserve after sustaining a fracture in his leg, which means he’ll miss at least the next four games, leaving Philadelphia's safety room in flux.
Eagles fans feared the worst when Mukuba got hurt in Week 12 against the Cowboys, knowing it meant that Brown could be thrown into a starting role, which is what happened on Black Friday against the Chicago Bears.
Unsurprisingly, it did not go well for the former third-round pick, who was a net negative in pass coverage and tackling during the Eagles’ humiliating loss to the Bears. According to Pro Football Focus, the 5-foot-10, 211-pound safety had a 48.6 overall defensive grade, 52.7 run defense grade, 68.0 tackling grade, and a 51.5 coverage grade across 85 snaps.
The only other Eagles’ defensive back with a lower coverage grade than Brown on Friday was Reed Blankenship (31.3). Brown only gave up two receptions (five targets) for 13 yards, but fans saw him struggle to stay in front of Rome Odunze in the slot (h/t @PPRFantasyTips), which could’ve easily been a touchdown.
Before that play, the 25-year-old had a chance to make a tackle on former Eagles running back D’Andre Swift in wide-open space, but Brown completely whiffed, which allowed the Bears running back to pick up a few more yards. Eagles fans are over Brown and want to see a change as soon as possible, such as bringing in Justin Simmons. However, defensive coordinator Vic Fangio might want to consider getting Michael Carter II on the field at safety.
Eagles Must Consider Making Sydney Brown-Michael Carter II Switch in Week 14
When the Eagles acquired Carter II ahead of the trade deadline earlier this month, the idea was that he would bolster the CB room, especially if Philadelphia decided to make a change at CB2 and put Cooper DeJean in Week 12.
As we saw, that plan didn’t work out for DeJean against the Cowboys. Before the Black Friday game against the Bears, Fangio told reporters that Carter has been their fourth safety for the last few weeks.
Brooks Kubena of The Athletic noted earlier this month that Carter, who played safety at Duke, has been cross-training between safety and nickel since arriving in Philadelphia. In Friday’s loss to the Bears, Carter only played one snap, which is a stark difference from what he was asked to do in Week 12 against the Cowboys (25 snaps/22 in the slot).
That said, with the Eagles not scheduled to play until Monday night (Dec. 8) against the Los Angeles Chargers, this is the perfect time to see if Carter is a better safety option than Brown.
The 26-year-old defensive back could give the Eagles’ secondary a better defender in coverage, especially against the Chargers, who have a nice trio of wide receivers and an emerging rookie tight end.
At this point in the season, the Eagles have nothing to lose by making this change. While it may seem unfair to turn the page on Brown after one game, he’s shown enough that he’s clearly not the answer.