After their first back-to-back losses in nearly two years, the Philadelphia Eagles’ problems are boiling over. Thursday night’s loss to the New York Giants brought the season to a critical point, and many are wondering if head coach Nick Sirianni will save the season as he did after a 2-2 start in 2024 or watch it go down the drain like they did when Philadelphia lost six of its final seven games after a 10-1 start to the 2023 season.
One of the biggest issues that needs to be resolved is the situation with star wideout A.J. Brown. After appearing unhappy with his targets while the Eagles were winning, he still found himself in controversy after being force-fed in a loss to the Denver Broncos. The loss prompted a meeting between the Eagles' top playmakers, but it appears Brown didn’t get the invite after his comments following Thursday’s game.
“I don’t recall a meeting,” Brown said, via Sports Illustrated’s Albert Breer. “I don’t know what you’re talking about. No, you need to talk to them. I don’t recall. I don’t recall.”
A.J. Brown’s Comments Raise More Questions About the Eagles’ Struggles
Brown’s comments are yet another concern for the Eagles. Quarterback Jalen Hurts and running back Saquon Barkley confirmed the meeting earlier in the week, and Barkley lamented that the meeting became public knowledge. While Hurts and Barkley both described it as a conversation between teammates, it felt like it was designed to be a pivotal moment in Philadelphia’s season.
The Eagles' offense has been the biggest point of contention as they’ve taken a step back under offensive coordinator Kevin Patullo. Brown has been one of the most vocal critics of Patullo’s play-calling, continually screaming for more targets until things reached a breaking point over the past two weeks.
Although Patullo has been the scapegoat for the offense, there may be a bigger problem.
Since getting one target in the season opener against the Dallas Cowboys, Brown ranked eighth in the NFL with 35 targets since Week 2 before Thursday’s game against the Giants. Brown received nine more targets on Thursday night, turning them into 80 scoreless yards. While the ball is being thrown in Brown’s direction, he’s not making the play with a career-low 55.6% catch rate through six games.
“He’s done his job,” Brown said, via 94 WIP’s Eliot Shorr-Parks. “Honestly, I think he’s doing an amazing job. He’s trying to get us the ball and talk about things that we may see, and the ideas that he has, and it’s non-stop communication. I know he gets a lot of scrutiny, but I think he’s doing a good job at keeping this thing going.”
So if Brown thinks Patullo isn’t the problem, it may come down to an issue with his teammates. Hurts’s yards per attempt have dropped to a career-low 6.8 after Thursday’s loss, and Barkley leads the NFL with 95 attempts but is averaging 3.4 yards per carry, which would be his lowest outside of the 2020 season, where he tore his ACL after two games.
Perhaps Brown and Hurts tried to fix the problem, and Brown didn’t listen to their concerns. It’s also possible that Brown is downplaying that it was a formal meeting as opposed to teammates hashing out their differences. Then, there’s the worst-case scenario where Brown’s teammates delivered a message he didn’t want to hear and spaced out entirely.
Whatever happened, it appears the message didn’t get through to Brown, and with $16.3 million in dead money owed this season if the Eagles decide to trade him, per OverTheCap, everyone will have to hash out their differences if they want the season to turn around.