Philadelphia Eagles: Why did Brandon Brooks disappear on Sunday?

Philadelphia Eagles right guard Brandon Brooks made it back to the field for week one. At some point though, he was replaced by Big V.

Back in January, the Philadelphia Eagles were on their last leg. Despite an injury-plagued season resulting in barley squeezing into the playoffs, the Eagles simply just didn’t have any juice left. By the time their matchup with the New Orleans Saints came about, the Eagles had started off hot but quickly burned out. And it all began with a major injury to a key player.

Eagles’ right guard Brandon Brooks has been playing at a high level for quite a few years now. Last season was no different. While the Eagles’ offensive line had its issues when it came to injuries, Brooks remained healthy and on top of his game. However, he had an unfortunate occurrence during the final game of the season as he went down with a devastating leg injury.

Brooks’ injury was significant. Therefore, he had to get carted off the field. It turns out; he suffered a torn Achilles. Brooks immediately underwent surgery and didn’t have a timetable issued right off the bat. Week one for the 2019 season was his goal — but that felt like a longshot.

The man wasn’t lying though. Last week, Brooks made it back to the practice field and was cleared to play by the Eagles medical staff. Once the injury report came out, Brooks wasn’t listed, further making him a go for Sunday’s opener. Despite losing much time in the offseason, Brandon Brooks was back like he never left this past weekend. However, at a point, he did disappear.

What happened to Brandon Brooks?

Halapoulivaati Vaitai has been training at right guard in case of an emergency. If Brooks wasn’t able to play, Big V goes in. Since Brooks did disappear from the field, Big V took over. Clearly, we all took notice as Vaitai had multiple holding penalties in the matter of just a few plays.

Nobody knew what happened to Brooks. Was he injured? Or were the Eagles just playing it safe? It turns out that Doug Pederson issued Brooks a pitch count for the afternoon. As he barely had any time in the offseason to practice, the Eagles wanted to play it safe. Brooks was expected to be out after 30 total snaps, but he was granted a little over 50 before they called it a day for him.

Fortunately, Brooks is alright. His sudden absence was just precautionary as they wanted to ease him back into the game. With week one in the books, Brooks is feeling healthy and back to his old self. So now that he’s got a week of practice and a game under his belt, the Eagles are ready to disarm the training wheels. Next week, Brooks’ pitch count won’t exist. He’s a full go.