Ronald Darby's 2018 season was cut short due to a torn ACL suffered in a game against the Cowboys. It was devastating on two fronts for Darby, as last season was his contract-year, and was ready to put together a full year in hopes of earning a big contract in free agency. The injury led to teams being scared away from signing him to a long-term investment, so Darby was only able to get a one-year "prove it" deal with the Eagles this offseason.
The cornerback will not be on the field though when the Eagles officially start Training Camp this week, as NFL Network's Ian Rapoport reports that Darby will start on the Physically Unable to Perform list.
Darby will have a spot secured on the 53-man roster, but with the team having five other cornerbacks capable of starting, not being available for Training Camp means that the others will have more practices and reps to show that they can earn more playing time and force Jim Schwartz to keep Darby on the bench.
Week 1 against the Redskins will put Darby at roughly 10 months from his original ACL injury. In most cases that is enough time for an NFL athlete to recover from that injury, but everybody is different in terms of their rehab. As Training Camp progresses and the preseason comes and goes we'll learn more from Schwartz about Darby's rehab and his availability for the regular season.
