Eagles guard Brandon Brooks trains in jiu-jitsu to stay in shape following injury

PHILADELPHIA,PA - While Eagles guard Brandon Brooks will not be suiting up for the team this season, he is still finding ways to staying in shape and help recover from his injury with the help of his trainer.

Ricardo Migliarese, Brooks’ jiu-jitsu trainer and the owner of Balance MMA Studios, has noticed even when they first met how hard he was willing to work to get better.

“Right off the bat, I could tell that man was dedicated. I mean, even when we got into our first session. He is attentive, he’s like the perfect student,” said Migliarese.

Two days after suffering his Achilles injury, Brooks got straight to work on jiu-jitsu training which startled a few people. Migliarese says that their workouts are perfectly safe.

“What me and Brandon are doing, we’re moving, we’re constantly moving. It’s almost like a flow. We’re not training, we’re not going after anything. He’s being very smart, very intelligent with how he approaches this. Very professional.”

Migliarese has trained with several other athletes including Tre Thomas and Roy Hibbert. He says the cross-training will help once Brooks is able to get back onto the field next season.

“Jiu-jitsu will teach you to think intelligently in an exhausted period which means that any athlete at the top of their game is going to meet another athlete at the top of their game. Whether it is a team meeting another team at the Super Bowl or the jiu-jitsu champion meeting another one in a match.”