Brooks determined to overcome injury
After surgery to repair torn tendon, he faces months of rehab work.
PHILADELPHIA — There is no debating Brandon Brooks’ value to the Eagles’ offensive line.
The Eagles’ starting right guard is a reliable run blocker and outstanding in pass protection. Over the past three regular seasons, he has allowed one regular-season sack — in the 2016 opener — in just under 2,000 pass plays, which means opposing defensive tackles went sackless against him in 2017 and 2018. He gave up just 10 quarterback pressures last year, tying for fewest in the league.
He’s been a Pro Bowl selection in each of the past two seasons. No guard in franchise history has been to more than two.
But for Brooks to make it three straight Pro Bowls, he’s going to have to work his way back from a torn right Achilles tendon he suffered pass blocking in the first quarter of last Sunday’s 20-14 NFC divisional playoff loss to the Saints.
That’s no easy task for anyone, let alone a 335-pound lineman who turns 30 in August.
But Brooks is committed to getting there. During Monday’s locker-cleanout day at the NovaCare Complex, he was surprisingly upbeat when discussing the long rehab that lies ahead.
“Life goes on,” Brooks said. “I don’t feel pity for myself. I don’t feel down. I have nothing to cry about. Surprisingly, I think this is actually what I needed. It reignited a fire for me that I haven’t touched in a while.”
Brooks knew he was injured on the play, but wasn’t sure to what extent. He initially began walking off the field before stopping and sitting down. As he waited to be carted off, the reality of the situation began to sink in when he looked down and noticed the toes on his right foot were “a little farther back” than those on his left foot.
He really appreciated that every Eagle in uniform came over before he was driven off the field.
“It means a lot,” Brooks said. “It means that we’re family. It means it’s bigger than football. You play a sport where there’s a 100 percent chance of injury. You know your play will come — you never know what injury it’ll be.”
Right tackle Lane Johnson, who lines up next to him on each offensive play, told reporters after the game that the injury was on his mind for the rest of the game.
“Toughest guy I know,” Johnson tweeted of Brooks after the season-ending defeat.
His goal is to be back with his teammates by July and ready for the September start of the 2019 campaign. The typical rehabilitation time with such an injury is six to eight months.
“Like I tweeted out ‘God got me. I’ll be fine,’ ” Brooks said. “That’s kind of what I mean. I’ll be attacking rehab like a game. I look forward to getting back to myself as soon as possible. I will do whatever that takes.”
Brooks tweeted out a photo Thursday saying he underwent successful surgery in Green Bay, Wisconsin, and “the road to recovery starts now. I look forward to kicking [its butt].”
The Eagles signed Brooks to a five-year, $40 million free-agent deal with $21 million guaranteed in 2016 after four years with the Texans. It was a bargain.
Inserted between center Jason Kelce, a first-team All-Pro pick in each of the past two seasons and rated the NFL’s top center by Pro Football Focus in 2018, and 2017 Pro Bowl right tackle Johnson, Brooks has flourished in Philadelphia.
PFF ranked the Eagles’ line No. 1 in 2017 and No. 5 in the league this year despite veteran left tackle Jason Peters’ declining skills and inability to finish games, as well as Isaac Seumalo and Stefen Wisniewski sharing the left guard spot. That is a testament to Kelce, Brooks and Johnson.
As for Brooks’ Achilles, he has already overcome an anxiety condition that forced him to sit out a pair of 2016 contests due to intense pregame nausea — the only regular-season games he’s missed as an Eagle — so he figures he can get past his first major injury, too.
“I look forward to this journey,” Brooks said.
Perhaps almost as much as the Eagles look forward to having him back dominating at right guard.
Tom Moore is a freelance writer.