Things have not gone nearly as smooth as expected for the Philadelphia Eagles this season.
The reigning NFC champions have been out-of-sync all year long, despite their overall strong record.
One of the biggest reoccurring storylines has been the poor behavior of star wide receiver A.J. Brown, both on and off the field.
One unnamed veteran recently told Marcus Hayes of The Philadelphia Inquirer that Brown’s horrific body language has negatively affected everyone, especially since Brown is supposed to be one of the leaders of the team.
“Any time you have bad body language from a leader like that, other guys see it, and it’s not good,” the veteran said.
1st and 20 in FG range already and we do nothing but QB runs and screens.
If I’m AJ Brown I’m upset too #Eagles pic.twitter.com/kIeeEqAnbk
— Philly Talk Podcast (@Philly_Mike25) December 31, 2023
Making matters worse has been Brown’s refusal to speak to the media, which in-turn leaves his teammates having to answer constant questions about him.
As the playoffs near, it seems like a light has finally gone off in Brown’s head. He finally broke his media boycott and took questions for the first time in a long time.
He acknowledged that his unprofessionalism was unnecessarily making things tougher on his teammates.
“They shouldn’t have to answer questions on my behalf … You (the media) can portray me however you want to portray me, but at the end of the day, I know who I am,” he said.
“I try to be careful with what I say because you guys are still going to write it up however you’re going to write it up. I’m not upset at none of y’all. That just comes with it,” he added.
AJ Brown got a life time contract with me!! #Eagles pic.twitter.com/M9MeCZbGKb
— Philly Talk Podcast (@Philly_Mike25) January 3, 2024
Addressing his poor body language of late, Brown clarified that one of his recent tantrums was not about play-calling but rather concern for teammate DeVonta Smith’s ankle injury.
Smith’s injury is expected to keep him sidelined for the Eagles upcoming game against the New York Giants.
“I’m going to need Smitty moving forward,” Brown stated, emphasizing the importance of his fellow star receiver to the team.
Explaining his decision to remain silent for two weeks, Brown stated: “I didn’t want to compound a negative with a negative … Another (reason) why I wanted to apologize, too, because all you see is A.J. Brown frustrated with the Eagles, A.J. this, A.J. that,”
Just when he was starting to make real progress, he decided to play the victim card of course…
“Everyone in this locker room is frustrated, so why are you singling me out because I’m frustrated? Just because I’m shaking my head, I’m showing emotion?” he said.
AJ Brown single handily saving the Eagles season with this Quote pic.twitter.com/4BrIzwWlDr
— Laz🦅 (@Philly_Laz) January 3, 2024
The only thing that matters to the coaches, the players and the fans is winning … You can pretty much act however you want to act as long as you win.
The bottom line is Brown has gained the respect of his teammates back, and many spoke about how much they appreciated him apologizing to the team.
“He’s taking leadership, taking ownership for some of the things that’s been out there. I appreciate him having the courage for doing that in front of the team … It was on his heart, so he did what he felt was right. I was going to support whatever it is he feels and any other player feels,” quarterback Jalen Hurts said.
“I think we all knew why he didn’t want to talk. Why he wasn’t, things like that. But it was really cool for him to just kind of put everything that he had on his heart to the team … It’s something that will definitely bring us closer together and hopefully we can use it as motivation and use it as aggression going into the last little bit of the season we have here,” tight end Dallas Goedert added.
Marcus Hayes hiding from AJ Brown at the Eagles Novacare pic.twitter.com/NNBfKH2Yo3
— The Tape Don’t Lie📽️ (@eaglesfilmstudy) January 4, 2024
The Eagles will wrap up the regular season this Sunday on the road against the rival New York Giants.
Soon after, the playoff seedings will become official and we’ll find out what Philly’s path looks like as they attempt to get back to the Super Bowl?
What do you make of the Brown situation?
More importantly, what are your thoughts on the Eagles chances in the playoffs?
Can they get back to “that” level and reach the Super Bowl once again???