Brandon Graham activated from PUP list

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The Eagles will get a little boost as they begin their workweek today. Their Super Bowl hero is back.

Brandon Graham, who has been on the Active/PUP list since the beginning of training camp, has been activated and will practice Monday, less than three weeks from the start of the regular season.

In recent weeks, Graham has been spotted working with trainers on side fields, but now, he’ll get a chance to join his teammates as they begin to gear up for Week 1.

Graham, 30, had surgery this offseason to help heal a high ankle sprain he suffered on Christmas night against the Raiders. Yes, that’s right, he made the biggest play in Eagles history — the strip sack on Tom Brady — with an ankle injury that eventually needed surgery.

“I never won a championship,” Graham said in July about playing through the injury last year. “To be able to be on this team that we had, there’s no way I’m not going to be a part of it. So I did all I could.

“If I didn’t feel good, I wouldn’t have done it. Sometimes the medicine helps it, too. Sometimes it doesn’t. But you just have to be smart.”

In Graham’s absence, Chris Long has been the starter at his left defensive end spot and Derek Barnett has been the starter at right defensive end. Michael Bennett has been working with Josh Sweat on the second unit. The Eagles are incredibly deep at defensive end and Graham might still be their best one.

This will be Graham’s ninth season with the Eagles and he’s entering the final year of his contract. He hasn’t been shy about his desire for a new deal and while de facto GM Howie Roseman has been very complimentary of Graham, a new deal hasn’t gotten done yet.

Graham’s career has been interesting. He was considered a bust for the first few years of his career after being a first-round pick and just recently came into his own. He had the best season of his career in 2017, piling up 9½ sacks and was also extremely stout against the run.

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