Philadelphia Eagles fans received an up-close look at the Sydney Brown experience last week as he started in place of injured rookie Andrew Mukuba. Brown, who has mostly played special teams, did not fare well in only his second start this season.
The third-year safety did not look great in pass coverage and completely whiffed on a tackle in wide-open space on Chicago Bears RB D’Andre Swift. If you’re an Eagles fan, you can’t wait for the Brown experience to be done and hope that the team can find a replacement quickly, which is hard at this point in the season.
However, luckily for the fan base, the Eagles will be bringing in a veteran reinforcement who has been out for a while due to injury. On Tuesday, Philadelphia announced that it has opened the 21-day practice window for safety Marcus Epps.
Marcus Epps Return News Suddenly Puts Sydney Brown on Thin Ice in Week 14
Epps was placed on injured reserve in late October following the Eagles’ Week 8 win over the New York Giants. The 29-year-old safety has predominantly been utilized on special teams this season, but has starting experience with the Eagles and the Las Vegas Raiders.
Following this news from the team, Jimmy Kempski of The Philly Voice suggested that there’s a “decent” chance that Epps could start over Brown if he’s activated.
With the Eagles opening Epps’ window on Tuesday, they’ll have at least until Dec. 23 to either add him to the 53-man roster or keep him on injured reserve. Before Epps got hurt, the veteran safety was reportedly ahead of Brown on the depth chart, which is interesting to note.
When Epps was a full-time starter in 2022 with the Eagles, he wasn’t the best in pass coverage. The veteran defender had a 139.1 passer rating and allowed six receiving touchdowns. He also had 10 missed tackles, despite racking up 94 combined tackles.
While you don’t love the missed tackles and the touchdowns allowed, Epps gives the Eagles more of a veteran and competent option that they can trust not to look out of place in certain spots.
Now, if Epps struggles in his first game back against the Los Angeles Chargers, then the Eagles might have no choice but to go back to Brown, or even try the Michael Carter II at safety plan.
But if the Eagles’ defensive line can get pressure on and beat up Chargers QB Justin Herbert, it will make life easier for everyone in the secondary, who will have their hands full with Los Angeles’ dynamic WR trio and rookie tight end.