PHILADELPHIA — A.J. Brown’s says there isn’t a doubt in his mind about where he wants to be. No matter where his frustrations lie, the Eagles are the team he wants to play for.
“This is home. This is my home,” Brown said Wednesday as a large group of reporters crowded around his locker following Wednesday’s practice. “Unfortunately, I did it to myself. I won’t say ‘unfortunately.’ I did it to myself.
“This is my home. I love it here.”
Brown admitted he was frustrated after Sunday’s win over the Buccaneers over the state of the offense. Those frustrations led Brown, who didn’t speak with reporters after the game, to send a cryptic social media post after the game — a post that became the subject of controversy and speculation in Philadelphia.
Brown posted the Bible verse Mark 6:11: “If you’re not welcomed, not listened to, quietly withdraw. Don’t make a scene. Shrug your shoulders and be on your way.” But after a few days to cool off, Brown admitted he let his frustrations get the best of him.
“I let my frustrations boil over. I didn’t speak to the media,” Brown said. “I had a chance to correct my frustrations and I continued to let it boil over. And that’s on me. I take full accountability on that. My message on Twitter wasn’t directed at anyone in the building. And of course, not my quarterback, my GM, nobody. I take full accountability.”
Why is A.J. Brown frustrated?
Philadelphia’s offense has been inconsistent throughout the early portion of the season. The Eagles had a stretch to open the second half on Sunday in which they ran 26 plays for a total of 14 yards. The week prior? The offense had a stretch of 14 plays that totaled just three yards.
The frustrations dig deeper than just inconsistency. The Eagles rank 30th in total offense this season, and have the fewest total yards per game (251.5) by a 4-0 team since the 1941 New York Giants. They are averaging the fewest yards per play (4.17) by any 4-0 team in the Super Bowl era. Philadelphia is just the second 4-0 team since 1940 to get outgained in total yards in each game.
Eagles’ Nick Sirianni responds to A.J. Brown’s cryptic post: ‘I question nothing about his desire to be here’
Carter Bahns
Brown has 14 catches for 151 yards and a touchdown this season, but 109 of his yards came in Week 3’s comeback win over the Rams. Against the Bucs, Brown accounted for only two receptions (on nine targets) for 7 yards.
“I think it’s normal to have frustrations because of the standard that we hold ourselves to,” Brown said. “We have a lot of talent on our offense, and to be honest, our defense and special teams have been low key carrying us. It’s just like we need to clean up what we need to clean up and get on the same page and play to the ability that we say that we can and be who we are called to be.
“It’s a standard that we preach. So it’s easy to have that frustration. It’s fair to have that frustration. Like I said, I can’t let that boil over.”
This is more than the totality of the offense. Saquon Barkley is ranked 42nd out of 48 running backs in yards per carry (3.1). Brown and DeVonta Smith aren’t in the top 50 in receiving yards (Smith is 65th and Brown is 66th). Hurts is 25rd out of 33 quarterbacks in yards per attempt (6.0). Yet this group averages 23.8 offensive points per game, 12th in the NFL.
For Brown, it’s more frustrating than that. He has under 10 yards receiving in two of the four games and has just one catch of 25-plus yards this season. Brown has endured as many halves without a catch this season (4) as he’s had his first three seasons with the Eagles combined.
In Brown’s mind, he isn’t doing his part.
“It is tough because you want to help contribute to the win,” Brown said. “Obviously, it’s been a little tough. I got the ball in the second half of the Rams game. Not getting too many targets to contribute, it’s tough.
“It’s tough to stay engaged because we’re on an island. A lot of things have to go right, and the ball has to come. Guys have to block up front. And then we have to do our job and win, and then make the play. If you don’t get targets, and you don’t see the ball for half the game, two hours, man, it’s hard to stay engaged. But we’re professionals and we’re going to try to make the most of when our number is called.”
The lack of deep balls in the passing game has also contributed to the offensive stalemate. Hurts has thrown just eight attempts of 25-plus air yards this season, completing 37.5% of them. He’s 30th out of 36 quarterbacks in attempts of 10-plus air yards (25), going just 10 of 25 (40%) with a 93.1 passer rating and just one touchdown.
Teams are stopping the rushing attack because the downfield passing game isn’t being utilized enough and is struggling. The Eagles are last in the NFL in percentage of plays that go 10-plus yards (12.0%) and last in avoiding tackles on run plays (8.4%).
The offense just hasn’t been up to standard — especially on the heels of last year’s run to the Super Bowl. Brown is hoping to help change that, even though he admitted he handled it the wrong way.
“We’re always working to get on the same page,” Brown said. “There’s not that much communication because during a game, I’m not the person on the sidelines saying, ‘Give me the ball, give me the ball.’ So I don’t understand where people are saying he’s forcing me the ball because I’m complaining.
“If you ask any of my teammates, I’m probably the quietest one of the sideline. I don’t even go into the huddle during the timeouts. I try to let the game come to me. And I don’t even tell KP [Eagles offensive coordinator Kevin Patullo], ‘Call this, call that.’ That’s the player I am.”
Brown ‘optimistic’ about offensive turnaround for Eagles
Jordan Mailata, an Eagles team captain with Brown, said Brown spoke with his teammates about his social media post but declined to go into specifics. The Eagles have already moved on from the aftermath of Brown’s post, which is business as usual for a team that has won 20 of its last 21 games.
“I think for us, we’ve just turned the page. We’re focusing on Denver this week,” Mailata said. “Last week’s drama is last week’s drama. Have we addressed it as teammates? Yes, so we are gonna keep that in house. But as far as the rest of the locker room, we’re moving on to this week.”
Mailata shared the same sentiment as Brown regarding the state of the offense. The group wants to be great, not the state they are in now.
“I mean we already knew that,” Mailata said. “That’s just for us, I’m glad he had his moment to talk to you guys, but I’m not critical of him in the way he feels. I feel the exact same way. We’re not trying to be good. We’re trying to be great. And so, I’m on the same page with him.”
Now that Brown has explained his frustration, he’s looking to turn the page himself. And Brown believes the Eagles will back on track offensively.
“I’m very optimistic,” Brown said. “Man, I trust my coaches. I trust Jalen to get this thing figured out. We’re working towards it. We see it at times, it’s just that the inconsistent is starting to be consistent. That’s where the frustration comes in because as of last year, you would look back and see that Saquon [Barkley] was on a historic pace. We ran the ball, but we weren’t passing the ball too well.
“Now this year, we’re struggling a little bit running the ball, and we’re still struggling passing the ball. So it’s like, let’s get this thing fixed before we run into a serious team, and now, we’re learning from losing instead of learning from winning. That’s the message.”
