All Philadelphia Eagles fans were worried the moment they found out that rookie second-round pick Andrew Mukuba fractured his ankle and needed surgery.
Mukuba had been developing into a nice starter on the Eagles' defense. The team decided to place him on IR, which most likely keeps him out for the rest of the regular season, but there's no word on the postseason.
That now brings in third-year safety Sydney Brown to take over as the starter in place of Mukuba. This could be his big chance to run with the job and prove to Eagles defensive coordinator Vic Fangio that he deserves to start over Mukuba.
It's Brown's time to shine for the Eagles
Brown was a former third-round pick of the Eagles back in 2023, in the hopes that he would slowly develop into an eventual starter. He would end up starting six games in his 14 appearances, racking up 45 tackles, three pass deflections, one tackle for loss, one forced fumble, and one interception returned for a touchdown.
The week after getting a pick-six on the Arizona Cardinals in his rookie season, Brown would tear his ACL in the final week of the regular season. That would dramatically affect his 2024 campaign, as he was unable to return to the defensive lineup under the new coordinator, Fangio. In a primarily special teams role, Brown had seven tackles, two pass deflections, one forced fumble, and one interception in 11 games.
In training camp this year, there was a position battle between Brown and Mukuba, with Brown getting the edge early since he was the veteran. Mukuba would end up getting the start in Week 1 against the Dallas Cowboys and held on to the job. This season, Brown has racked up 17 tackles in 11 games.
A lot of Eagles fans have their doubts about Brown and have been ready to move on from him for a while. Fangio actually spoke highly of the Canadian safety in practice and was confident in his ability to start.
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Eagles fans are going to play the wait-and-see game with Brown starting and hope he performs well. This is his big shot to prove to the Eagles that he should be the starter over Mukuba and show the NFL he's ready to be an impact player.