Philadelphia Eagles: The Jalen Hurts to A.J. Brown connection is strong

In case you haven’t heard, Jalen Hurts lobbied the Philadelphia Eagles pretty hard to trade for A.J. Brown.

The duo have been tight since high school, when Hurts tried to recruit Brown to Alabama, and even though they played for different teams in different divisions in different conferences, Hurts still found time to attend his friend’s daughter’s birthday and to book informal throwing sessions during the offseason.

Now granted, Brown wasn’t the Birds’ first choice in the way of wide receiver trade targets, as they were reportedly in on a deal for Calvin Ridley before Hurts’ former Alabama teammate was suspended for a year due to sports betting, but in hindsight, Howie Roseman made out like a bandit, as he secured the services of one of the best wide receivers the NFL has to offer for the admittedly high price of a first-round pick, a third-round pick, and a deal worth up to $100 million.

What’s that old saying; you pay for quality?

The Jalen Hurts-A.J. Brown connection is here, Philadelphia Eagles fans.

When news broke that the Philadelphia Eagles were trading for A.J. Brown, who did the suddenly-former Tennessee Titans wide receiver video chat? Yeah, that’d be Jalen Hurts, who was very excited about the addition, to say the least.

How about in Brown’s introductory press conference? Did he have anything to say about his new QB1? Why yes, yes he did; Brown discussed how the duo became good friends during his recruitment to college, lauded his arm strength – seriously – and recounted how Hurts even joked about calling Howie Roseman to demand he traded for him in the middle of an offseason workout. Don’t believe me? Well, read a quote from the man himself, as subscribed by NBC Sports.

"“I’m going to go to bat for him every Sunday because he’s my friend. It’s a different mentality you bring when you’re playing for somebody that’s important to you. It’s not about yourself no more. You’re playing for someone else. I’m going to go above and beyond for him and this team.”"

That’s some very interesting insight indeed.

Off the field, Hurts and Brown have remained close too, though the latter was noticeably absent when his quarterback caught a literal shark fishing at the beach. Eh, maybe Brown was the one taking the video? If not, I’m sure they’ve spent a good bit of time hanging out together without a football in hand, be that playing some Madden or taking a culinary tour through the greater City of Brotherly Love.

As Brown said, playing for a friend is just different.

Will Jalen Hurts and A.J. Brown form an elite tandem in 2022? Will Brown supplant DeVonta Smith as the Philadelphia Eagles’ WR1, or will the duo form an elite one-two punch the team hasn’t deployed in, well, in a very long time to put it kindly. Only time will tell, but after getting exactly what he wanted this offseason, it’s safe to say the pressure is on for Hurts to prove once and for all whether or not this is his team.