A.J. Brown did not practice on Thursday, a day after leaving Wednesday’s practice session early with a trainer and being listed as a limited participant because of a knee injury and rest.
The expectation, however, is that Brown is trending toward playing in Sunday’s playoff opener against the Green Bay Packers and that the holdout was part of a plan to make sure the receiver is healthy to play.
It remains to be seen if Brown will practice in any capacity on Friday after not practicing at all last week while the Eagles rested a number of starters to be at full strength for their playoff run.
It’s possible Brown and quarterback Jalen Hurts will enter Sunday without having full-speed reps together since Hurts suffered a concussion during the Week 16 loss to the Washington Commanders.
Hurts was upgraded from a limited participant in Wednesday’s practice to a full participant in Thursday’s workout as he continues progressing through the concussion protocol and tracking toward playing on Sunday.
To clear the protocol, Hurts will need to integrate back into team sessions without showing concussion-like symptoms and pass an evaluation by an independent neurological consultant.
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Injury report
In addition to Brown, reserve offensive lineman Trevor Keegan did not practice because of an illness. Four Eagles were limited: Jack Driscoll (ankle), Lane Johnson (rest), Kenny Pickett (ribs), and Will Shipley (ankle).
Book is back
Two days after being waived by the Eagles, quarterback Ian Book was signed to the team’s practice squad. His waiving was a signal the Eagles expected Hurts to play Sunday. Does his return point to a trend in the other direction? Not quite. The Eagles had four quarterbacks in the building for much of the season before releasing Will Grier from the practice squad in November.
To make room for Book on the practice squad, the Eagles released defensive back Mekhi Garner.
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