Everything was looking up for the Eagles in the NFC Divisional Round playoff game last season. The Eagles took a 14-0 lead down in the Superdome, and it was starting to look like the team would make a trip to Los Angeles to play the Rams in the NFC Championship Game. Everything changed when Brandon Brooks went down with a torn achilles and missed the rest of the game. The Eagles offense wasn't able to overcome the loss, as the ended up not scoring any points the rest of the game.
Brooks has been rehabbing his injury ever since his surgery to repair the achilles. He has been posting video clips on his progress, and everything was looking like he was ahead of schedule. He even practiced a bit in the team's open Training Camp practice and has been doing individual drills. A doctor's appointment this past Wednesday though didn't give Brooks the good news he was hoping to hear, as the doctor did not clear him for team activities yet.
He isn't giving up on being ready for Week 1 just yet, as he said that is still a legitimate possibility for him to achieve.
Obviously the team wants their right guard back in the lineup as soon as possible so they can protect their newly paid franchise quarterback as best as possible, but at the end of the day it's a process the team needs to go through. They don't want to risk Brooks' long-term health just to get him back into action a few games sooner than his body would allow him to play.
If Brooks isn't able to go Week 1, it looks like Halapoulivaati Vaitai will be the starting right guard. Stefan Wisniewski would most likely be backing up Vaitai in this situation.
