The outspoken Jason Kelce raised some eyebrows on Thursday morning in Philadelphia while discussing AJ Brown.
As the superstar Philadelphia Eagles wide receiver was accused of showing a lack of effort on the field at times throughout the 2025 NFL season, Kelce simply added his brutally honest take on the situation.
“How hard is it to play with a player that's not giving full effort? It's incredibly frustrating," said Kelce. “Any player that's out there when you're seeing a teammate not go all out, that's all you want from your teammates, and that's all we want as fans. It's a really hard thing to optically watch, it's frustrating to watch. Few things are infuriating more."
Kelce didn't come out and accuse Brown of having low effort on the field throughout the year. The former center acknowledged that the entire team was clearly affected by something internally, and it showed on Brown at times.
Ultimately, Kelce complimented Brown, but that's not the quote that has stuck with the masses, leading Kelce to go on social media to send another clear message on the discussion.
"It was apparent that AJ was frustrated, and it's apparent that AJ lets that affect his play at times," Kelce wrote on X.
"That's frustrating to watch as fans and people on the outside. But it's more important that his teammates and coaches for all of this external frustration still love and only say positive things about AJ. That probably means that his teammates understand where he's coming from, and that's what really matters. If there was an issue with it, teammates would be saying different things publicly. That was the point I was attempting to say. That was the purpose of this response and I worded it poorly. I love AJ Brown, I loved him as a teammate, and I think if he ends up getting traded, the Eagles, and fans will end up regretting it majorly."
It's too early to say whether Brown will stick with the Eagles or not. The veteran wide receiver has openly admitted to being frustrated with the 2025 offense and his role within it. Several rumors during the season, and beyond the playoff run, suggested that Brown requested a trade.
Eagles general manager Howie Roseman publicly shot down the notion of fielding offers for Brown after the short-lived playoff run. Whether he was being truthful or not will be revealed when the trade market begins to heat up.
Last week, Brown was in good spirits, showing signs of embracing the change that will come within the Eagles' organization. The team parted ways with offensive coordinator Kevin Patullo, replacing him with Sean Mannion.
It's unclear what the future holds for Brown and the Eagles, but it's apparent that Kelce doesn't believe they should be hitting the trade switch on the star receiver before starting the 2026 NFL season.
2026 NEWSWEEK DIGITAL LLC.