Eagles fans got some good news ahead of Philadelphia's Week 4 matchup with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, as star wide receiver A.J. Brown returned to practice for the first time in weeks. Brown missed each of the last two games with a hamstring injury, and he's listed as questionable for the contest against the Bucs.
Obviously, it would be great to have Brown out on the field, especially since fellow star wide receiver DeVonta Smith has already been ruled out of the game with a concussion that he suffered against the Saints in Week 3. Philadelphia isn't especially deep at the wide receiver position behind those two guys.
Why sitting A.J. Brown against the Bucs makes sense for Philly
The Eagles were able to pull out a win over the Saints down the stretch without either of their top two receivers available, but that wouldn't be an ideal scenario for a full game. So, the prospect of Brown potentially being available is inherently exciting. But, resting Brown for the game against Tampa Bay would probably be the smart move for Philly.
Hamstring injuries are nothing to play with, as the risk of doing further damage is very real if the issue isn't given the proper time to heal. The Eagles have their Bye Week in Week 5, so sitting Brown against the Bucs would provide him with basically two extra weeks of rest, which would hopefully give the hamstring more than enough time to fully recover.
That's the benefit of having an early bye -- additional time to nurse early-season injuries. But, the downside is that the team will have to play from Week 6 on without a break. Erring on the side of caution and having Brown miss one more game now could help to ensure that he's available for more games down the stretch of the season.
Plus, it's early enough in the season that the Eagles should be able to bounce back even if they lose the game against the Bucs. Sure, 3-1 sounds a lot better than 2-2. But even at 2-2, they would be right in the thick of things in the NFC playoff picture with the majority of the season still ahead of them. And I'd take a 2-2 Eagles team with a healthy A.J. Brown over a 3-1 team with a banged-up Brown any day of the week. This is a marathon, not a sprint after all.
It's not like the Eagles don't have any weapons without Brown and Smith available. Tight end Dallas Goedert is coming off of a 170-yard performance against New Orleans, and Saquon Barkley has been arguably the best player in the entire NFL so far this season. When he's not committing careless turnovers, quarterback Jalen Hurts is a major weapon himself. So, Philadelphia should technically have enough talent to pull out a win, even without their star pass-catching duo.
At the end of the day, if Brown feels good enough to give it a go against Tampa Bay, then cool. It will be great to have him out there. But if there's any hesitation from either the player or the team, or if he's not quite at 100 percent, there's no reason not to play it safe, prioritize the long view and keep him on ice until after the bye week.
