For the second time in two months, Ronnie Brown has become an Eagle.
The circumstances are just a little bit different this time.
Brown, one of the Eagles ballyhooed training camp Pro Bowl acquisitions, was returned to the team on Wednesday, one day after being traded to the Lions for Jerome Harrison after Harrison failed his physical with the Eagles.
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The Eagles shipped Brown to Detroit seconds before Tuesdays 4 p.m. NFL trade deadline in exchange for Harrison, who spent most of last year with the Eagles and averaged 6.0 yards on 40 carries. The Eagles also received the Lions seventh-round pick in 2013.
But Harrison failed his physical in Philadelphia on Wednesday, which means the pick and Harrison go back to Detroit and Brown returns to Philadelphia.
There was no word exactly what injury caused Eagles team physicians to fail Harrison in his physical. He did not appear on the Lions official injury report before any of their six games this year and had no known injuries or surgeries last year or during the offseason.
Often, in these situations, a team will simply release a player that is returned to them after a trade voids.
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But an Eagles source said the team plans to keep Brown, simply because hes better than any other running back currently available.
The source said Brown will continue to back up Pro Bowl candidate LeSean McCoy, who leads the NFC with 569 rushing yards. Rookie Dion Lewis, who is averaging 4.4 yards on seven carries, is the Eagles other tailback.
Brown, a 1,000-yard rusher and Pro Bowl pick with the Dolphins in 2007, originally joined the Eagles on Aug. 2, one of six Pro Bowl players the Eagles added during the 14-day span from July 28 through Aug. 10.
Brown averaged over 800 yards with a 4.3 average and nearly 200 receptions during his six years with the Dolphins from 2005 through 2010. But his rushing average dropped to 3.7 with Miami last year, and he gained just 38 yards on 13 carries (2.9 average) with no catches in six games with the Eagles before they shipped him to the Lions.
In his first 5 12 seasons, Brown averaged 4.4 yards per carry. After suffering a foot injury nine weeks into 2009 that required surgery and landed him on Injured Reserve, hes averaged just 3.6 yards per carry with the Dolphins and Eagles.
Brown had no carries in two games since his ill-fated pass-fumble at the goal-line in the Eagles 24-23 loss to the 49ers.
Harrison, who had 109 yards against the Redskins and 99 against the Cowboys for the Eagles last year, was just 14-for-41 in four games for the Lions this year. He was on Detroits inactive list the last two weeks.
This is the second trade the Eagles have made this year that's voided. They shipped defensive tackle Brodrick Bunkley to the Browns for a fifth-round pick on July 30, but the deal was voided for similar injury-related reasons. The Eagles in turn traded Bunkley to the Broncos two days later for a conditional seventh-round pick that can become a sixth-round pick.
E-mail Reuben Frank at rfrank@comcastsportsnet.com.