With all the concerns the Philadelphia Eagles have with injuries just 24 hours before their NFC Wild Card game against the San Francisco 49ers, they get some more bad news.
Two players on the Eagles are going to have to pay big fines for their roles in the Week 18 loss to the Washington Commanders. Eagles safety Sydney Brown got the biggest hit as he was fined $46,371 for unnecessary roughness with the use of the helmet. Rookie wide receiver Darius Cooper was the other one, as he was fined $4,694 for unnecessary roughness and taunting.
While the Brown penalty is unknown on which play in the 24-17 loss to the Commanders, the Cooper one was very clear. Cooper had a big completion inside the 10-yard line and ended up flipping a ball towards a Commanders defender, drawing the penalty.
Tough lesson for Eagles to learn before playoff game
Cooper is a rookie and still has a lot to learn. It's not the first time he has had a bad penalty on him, or at least lost focus in a game. He played a role that started the fight in the Week 16 win over the Commanders, which saw Tyler Steen get ejected and slammed with a big fine of his own.
Brown didn't need to have the penalty he did as he had tried to get into the good graces of the Eagles after losing out on the starting safety job to rookie Andrew Mukuba at the beginning of the season. Eagles fans have seen Brown play more of a role on special teams, but he hasn't been effective enough on defense to beat out Marcus Epps to replace Mukuba after being placed on IR with his broken ankle.
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Philly is going to need Cooper and Brown to stay focused as the two will play significant roles on special teams and helping the Eagles beat the 49ers to move on in the postseason.