A.J. Brown
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Philadelphia Eagles wide receiver A.J. Brown.
It didn’t take much for Philadelphia Eagles superstar wide receiver A.J. Brown to turn on his quarterback last season.
Specifically, having 4 receptions for 45 yards in a Week 14 win over the Carolina Panthers got him to publicly call out Jalen Hurts and the passing game — despite being the ninth consecutive win in a 10-game winning streak.
Only time will tell how Brown reacts after a 24-20 season opening win over the Dallas Cowboys on September 4 in which Brown had just 1 reception for 8 yards — with that one catch coming on the final drive for the Eagles in the final 2 minutes of the game.
It was also the only target for Brown, who has over 1,000 receiving yards in each of his first 3 seasons in Philadelphia and in 5 out of his first 6 seasons.
It was a brutal opening game for Brown, a 3-time NFL All-Pro who signed a 4-year, $96 million contract extension before last season.
Brown’s Lack of Targets Met With Disbelief
No one in the football world could believe Brown not only had no catches but that the ball hadn’t come his way.
Fellow wide receiver DeVonta Smith, who signed a 3-year, $75 million contract extension before last season, only had 3 catches for 16 yards on 3 targets.
Former first round pick Jahan Dotson led the Eagles with 3 receptions for 59 yards.
“THIS IS CRAZY THAT#AJBROWN has NO CATCHES!!” Pro Football Hall of Fame wide receiver and former Eagle Terrell Owens wrote on his official X account. “Com’on OC!!!”
“A.J.Brown has never gone an entire game without being targeted at least one time,” ESPN’s Bill Barnwell wrote on his official X account. “Zero targets so far with three minutes to go.”
“MISSING PERSON(S) REPORT,” Eagles fan Sincerely Matt wrote on X. “Brown,A.J. (male, 28 years old) If found, please report/return to Lincoln Financial Field.”
“We gota lightning delay this NFL season before anA.J.Brown target,” Yahoo Fantasy Sports wrote on its official X account following an hour-plus delay.
Brown, Hurts Have History of Conflict
While Brown and Hurts have appeared to butt heads at times over the last 3 seasons, the two have also made franchise and NFL history together.
In 2022, Brown’s 1,496 receiving yards set a franchise record. In 2023, Brown had 6 consecutive games with over 125 receiving yards to set an NFL record.
When Brown and Smith complained about the passing game last year, it turned out Hurts had actually been playing with a broken finger on his left, non throwing hand.
Brown told NBC Philadelphia’s John Clark that he and Hurts doing an awkward, Kid ‘n Play-inspired celebration dance after Brown’s touchdown in a 27-13 win over the Pittsburgh Steelers in last season’s Week 15 was “… our moment to tell everybody to shut up.”
Brown had 8 receptions for 110 yards against the Steelers as the Eagles won their 10th consecutive game and improved to 12-2.
The utter disconnect between the events of the previous week and Brown’s comments after the win over the Steelers was called out by former ESPN host Trey Wingo, who wrote what Brown said was “Comical because if (Brown) had just shut up no one would have known about it,” on his official X account on December 15.