PHILADELPHIA – When record-setting receiver Billy Brown went undrafted by any NFL team, he signed a free agent contract with the Philadelphia Eagles. The former Shepherd wide receiver had shattered many of the school records for passes caught, yardage for a single season and career touchdowns.

The 6-foot-4 Brown played at about 235 pounds at Shepherd, but weighed about 245 when he was invited to the NFL Combine, a tryout session of sorts, and was grouped with the tight ends in his workouts there.

Philadelphia, which already had four tight ends on its carry-over roster, signed Brown and another Shepherd free agent, safety Tre Sullivan, to contracts and brought them both to training camp in late July.

Sullivan was injured and was eventually waived by the Eagles.

Brown survived a round of initial cuts, but when the team had to cut its roster to 53 players on Sept. 2, he was also waived.

However, the next day the Eagles formed their 10-player practice squad, often known as the “taxi squad.”

Brown was signed by the Eagles to be a member of their practice squad.

All practice squad members go through the same daily workouts and practices as the 53 active players have assigned.

As a member of Philadelphia’s practice squad, Brown can be signed as an active player by any team in the league. Or he can be activated at any time by the Eagles.

Currently, the Eagles are still carrying three tight ends on their active 53-player roster.

Philadelphia doesn’t care about Brown’s 99 receptions for the Rams in 2016 or his 1,400 yards gained on those receptions. The Eagles care only about Brown’s ability to block as a tight end and whether he can catch passes in traffic.

In many instances, players are taken from the practice squad of one team to the active roster of another team.

Since he was undrafted, Brown would have needed to make a favorable impression with a team other than the Eagles in the preseason games in order to be selected from the Philadelphia practice squad.