NFL
By: Mark T. Wilson
This will be hard to write, but I think it’s time the Philadelphia Eagles moved on from AJ Brown. Despite the lack of production this season, Brown is still one of the best receivers in the NFL. However, Brown is also showing signs that he’s one of the worst teammates in the league as well.
Since arriving in a Draft Day trade back in 2022, Brown has been a playmaker on the field. However, he has been a part of a team that has had off-field chemistry issues as well. While the Eagles as an organization have had some players with huge egos, the issues with this bunch have been centered around Brown.
As most top-tier receivers do– he wants the ball. But when you’re on a team that has multiple weapons and a winning team at that, your personal goals must fall at the waistline. It may not sit well with those players, but that logo on the helmet is more important than the name on the back of the jersey.
At some point, AJ Brown has to come to terms with that. The days of putting up great numbers and losing while in Tennessee are gone. The Eagles are a well-run organization from top to bottom with one goal in mind when the season begins—to win a Super Bowl. In Tennessee, maybe it was just to make the playoffs and get your numbers.
Brown, since he arrived in Philly, has been to 2 Super Bowls and earned a ring of his own. But this season, the team is struggling on the offensive end and, instead of hunkering down, Brown decides to play with the media to get his point across.
He’s on X with crypto tweets. He’s standing in front of his locker after a win or loss, saying the opposite of what everyone else is saying. This is not a winning culture; this is selfish behavior. The truth is, this could all be a play by AJ Brown, maybe he just liks to mess around and stir up some chatter. But even so, with the team struggling, this is not the time to do anything like that. Get in front of the camera and show a united front. He’s doing the opposite.
He’s always stated he wants to win, and that may be true, but he wants to win and get his. No player wants to feel left out, but at some point, Brown has to change his style of play. Brown wants the ball, but is he doing EVERYTHING possible to get open? No. He runs top speed half the time, and hell, according to him, he even gives up.
Has he ever wondered why receivers like Ja’Marr Chase, Puku Nacua, Justin Jefferson, or Mike Evans stay with consistent numbers? The defense knows they’re getting the ball, and yet, they can’t be denied. The reason is not on the QB; it’s on the receiver.
All 4 of those players mentioned above pride themselves on route running. With Brown, despite what he thinks, he’s never really open. There is always a defender on his hip, which goes to show that either he his not running crisp routes or he’s not as fast as he thinks he is.
What this does is place a QB in a tough spot. Maybe someone like Ryan Tannehill didn’t care and still forced the ball in there, which may result in an interception. But all Brown sees is the numbers and disguising them as his wanting to help. Guess that’s why he didn’t get a ring with the Titans.
With Jalen Hurts, he has a different approach. He used to be that guy to force the ball to a receiver, and that’s a reason why his numbers were where they were. Now he’s taking care of the ball better, and that has coincided with Brown’s numbers going down.
This is where AJ Brown has to adjust. Not only that, the Philadelphia Eagles have weapons with Saquon Barkley, Smith, Dallas Goedert, and the ability of Hurts to run the ball. Brown is not the focal point of this offense. He is a piece of the puzzle.
All this complaining, Howie Roseman and Jeffrey Lurie run a right ship, and when they feel you are disrupting what they have built in their championship window, you can and will be shipped out. No player is above the team. This is the same organization that paid Carson Wentz a ton of money, then drafted a QB who eventually replaced him. The same organization that has had many 1000-yard rushers and let them walk out the door.
The Eagles drafted Smith to be that No.1 guy, and all he has done is remain quiet and be a teammate while someone else came in and took that spot. He wants to win. Brown, on the other hand, is standing in the fire with his teammates but only asking the fans to hand him a bucket of water while everyone else burns alive.
We can look at Brown and his antics and brush them off as him just being a competitor. I get it, he wants numbers to be mentioned as one of the best in the game today and one of the best to ever do it, but at what cost? Winning is everything in this league, and with all the numbers that Chase and Jefferson have, neither can call themselves a champion. Do I place all the blame on Brown? No, the OC has to get more creative with the plays as well. It’s a total team effort all he way around.
Winning is more than putting up numbers; it’s about a culture. Nick Sirianni brought his own with him and and it appears so did AJ Brown. Just so happens, one is about winning and the other is about numbers.
