But then Asante Samuel suffered a stinger that will require an MRI today, just to make sure - all of which left the Eagles with a dilemma and Brown with a decision.
"He was in the game, he started the game," Eagles coach Andy Reid said. "And then, on one of the long runs, he kind of tweaked it again. He came out and we were going to utilize him in the nickel or where we needed to utilize him. Then Asante came out and he just dashed out there and went for it.
"Listen, we all know he's a tough guy. He told me all week he was going to be ready to go. I can't tell you that I believed it. I made sure our guys took him out before the game and worked the heck out of him. I told him that. I said, 'Listen, if you can't function there, then we can't let you go.' "
One line will stand out there, if this ends up being an interesting Eagles season in the end. One line:
"He just dashed out there . . .
Standing at his locker after the game had ended, after receiving more treatment, you just knew what he was going to say, because he is Sheldon Brown, and because he has been here a long time, and because his legacy means more to him even than the contract problem that his muddied the last few months. His legacy means a lot more than that.
Brown can see the continuum. He knows he is a link in a long chain - Troy Vincent, Bobby Taylor, Brian Dawkins, others, him. When the late Jim Johnson came to town with Reid and built this into a championship-level defense, this historical concatenation became real. It is something Brown takes very seriously.
