The New England Patriots acquired A.J. Brown from the Philadelphia Eagles on June 1, and Brown noted that his relationship with Jalen Hurts was not the same as it once was.
After being traded to the Patriots, Brown did an interview with Maria Taylor in which he confirmed that he and Hurts were not as close as they once were.
"Not as close as we once were," Brown told Taylor when asked to describe his relationship with Hurts. "I believe that's fine. There's no bad blood. There's actually still a lot of love. I love him to death. I want him to succeed and accomplish all the things that he wants to accomplish. I didn't truly understand why our friendship became the center of everybody's attention when it came to football because, you know, looking back on it, you know, we haven't been as close as we were for a couple of years now, but that didn't stop anything, you know. We still competed, we still pushed each other, we still led the team. So it's just kind of strange, you know, people just got so fixated on the relationship and wanted to talk about maybe from the history of this place, but, you know, that wasn't what this was. I'm going to say it to you. I say it on camera. I got nothing but love for him. You know, I want him to do well and accomplish everything his heart desires. So, I think at the end of the day, people always just want to know why. And there is an understanding that people grow apart."
Brown acknowledged that the two had drifted apart, and Hurts was asked what his thoughts were on Brown's comments about their relationship during a press conference on Wednesday.
"I'm not in a place to challenge anyone's perspective on anything," Hurts said. "That's where I am. I have always been focused on the collective, put my energy towards that, and as a leader, I've always put an onus on giving maximum effort to achieve the shared mission we have as a team."
Hurts did not seem to say much when responding to the question. It seems like he is ready to put the entire situation behind him and let Brown be. The two spent four seasons together with the Eagles and won a Super Bowl together. Hurts did not really want to speak on their relationship, basically saying he cannot judge how Brown perceives it.
According to ESPN's Jeremy Fowler, Sarah Barshop, Mike Reiss, Daniel Oyefusi and Tim McManus some of Brown's frustrations with Hurts and the Eagles stemmed from on-field issues.
"A good bit of his angst stemmed from the play of Hurts, league sources said, in part because of Hurts' perceived reluctance to target Brown on tight-window throws against zone coverage," wrote ESPN on Monday.
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