Jason Kelce believes Brandon Brooks will return ‘very early on' in the regular season

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We haven’t had a chance to talk to Brandon Books about his rehab. Doug Pederson never gives out injury information. And the Eagles’ training and medical staffs are off-limits to the media.

Fortunately, we have Jason Kelce.

Kelce said he’s optimistic that his friend and teammate, who tore his Achilles in the Eagles' playoff loss to the Saints, will be back either for the regular-season opener against the Redskins or very soon after.

Brooks got hurt on Jan. 13. The Eagles open the 2019 season on Sept. 8, which would be right about eight months out. An Achilles is generally considered an eight- or nine-month rehab.

I fully expect Brandon Brooks to be back,” Kelce said after OTA practice Tuesday. “I’m not a medical staff person, but I think if you look at Achilles injuries in general over the past five years, they’ve been a pretty easy recovery. I shouldn’t be saying this, something can always go wrong in a rehab, there can always be setbacks, some guys heal faster than others. But those Achilles injuries have been pretty routine at this point. The only thing is that once you tear one, you have the other one. That’s the only thing I’m even remotely hesitant about.

Brooks, 29, has made the Pro Bowl in each of the last two seasons. He probably should have been an All-Pro last year. He was that good.

He's such a crucial piece of this offense. If the Eagles can really get him back for the opener or soon after, that would be huge.  

“I think he’ll be back," Kelce said. "Maybe not for training camp or any of the preseason games, but I think he’ll be back, if not for Game 1 then very early on. His rehab looks like it’s going really well, too, for whatever that’s worth.”

 Brooks got hurt on a 2nd-and-7 with 6:11 left in the first quarter of the Eagles-Saints conference semifinal playoff game at the Superdome.

The Eagles took a 14-0 lead three plays later, but they didn’t score again and lost 20-14.

If there’s anybody out there that actually doubts his value, consider this:

- With Brooks in the game, the Eagles averaged 8.4 yards per play. With him out of the game, they averaged 4.0.
- With Brooks in the game, the Eagles were 7-for-35 rushing. Without him, they were 9-for-14.

All in all, Tuesday’s practice was impressive.

Carson Wentz looked incredible. DeSean Jackson talked about how much he’s matured and how important leadership is to him. JJ Arcega-Whiteside made an eye-opening catch in the end zone.  

Top it off with encouraging words about Brooks from the guy who plays next to him, and there was certainly no shortage of good news Tuesday in Eagles World.

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