Philadelphia Eagles star receiver A.J. Brown didn't speak to reporters after his team's ugly loss to the Arizona Cardinals on Sunday, telling media in the postgame locker room he had “nothing to say.” Unsurprisingly, that decision only fanned the flames of widespread speculation throughout much of the regular season that Brown is displeased with the Eagles' offensive approach, pointing to mounting team-wide dysfunction as the postseason looms.
The two-time Pro Bowler tried to set the record straight on Wednesday, going out of his way to express confidence in coach Nick Sirianni and offensive coordinator Brian Johnson.
“People say I'm beefing with Nick. I'm not mad at Nick, I'm not mad at nobody. We have a great relationship,” Brown said, per Tim McManus of ESPN. “We're riding with Nick. We're riding with [offensive coordinator] Brian [Johnson]. We just have to come out and play ball.”
Philadelphia enters the final week of the regular season at 11-5, losing four of the last five games. Brown hasn't scored over that disappointing stretch of play, only eclipsing 100 yards receiving in a blowout home loss to the San Francisco 49ers, who own the No. 1 playoff seed in the NFC.
Brown also insisted Wednesday that his palpable frustration in the postgame locker room wasn't the source of any discontent between he and his team, calling out the media for feeding into the perception otherwise.
“Like I said after the game, I was raised that if I have nothing nice to say I'm not going to say nothing at all. So I'm not just about to compound the negative with the negative so you guys can write more negative stuff,” he said.
“And then on top of that, everything that I do, if I say something, if I do anything, I'm classified as a monster. And it's honestly the opposite. You saw my frustration on the field — it wasn't about the playcall, it wasn't about none of that. It was about my guy [DeVonta Smith] getting banged up. I'm going to need Smitty moving forward. That was it.”
Smith didn't participate in Philadelphia's Wednesday practice, out due to an ankle injury suffered late against the Cardinals. He was reportedly off crutches and out of a walking boot, though, sparking optimism he'll at least be ready to play when the Eagles kickoff the postseason.
Philadelphia travels to face the New York Giants on Sunday, with the NFC East crown and the opportunity to host a playoff game at stake.
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