Rodney Peete understands where A.J. Brown is coming from in his discontent with the offense, but he wishes the Philadelphia Eagles receiver would have kept “internal.”
It's no secret that Brown has been unhappy with his role in the offense this season, taking to social media to voice his displeasure on his lack of involvement. He's been involved slightly more as of late, coming off of one of his better receiving performances of the season against the Dallas Cowboys. Brown recorded eight receptions for 110 yards and one touchdown, the highest amount of receptions he's recorded in a single game and the second-most receiving yards he's posted.
Peete played for the Eagles from 1995 until 1998 and led them to a playoff berth and win during the 1995 season. He knows all about the pressure of playing in front of the Philadelphia sports media. However, he's well aware that there's even more pressure now that social media exists 30 years later.
It's a big reason why he believes Brown should have kept his issues with the team internally.
“I just don't like it going out publicly,” says Peete in a one-on-one interview with ClutchPoints. “That's something with A.J. Brown, I think he is obviously a great player. He feels like he's not utilized enough. That's a great attitude to have internally, that I can beat anybody, I can get open, I can help the team win. Just get me the ball. That is great. But you got to keep that internal. You got to keep that within the offense, within the quarterback, the coaching staff, within the building.”
This is where Peete hammers home the social media argument in that everybody is ready to “pounce” on you for anything. He says that's part of the reason why Jalen Hurts is receiving flack despite the Eagles' 8-3 start. It's worth noting that before Philadelphia blew a 21-point lead against the Dallas Cowboys in Week 12, reports were already coming out (via Dianna Russini of The Athletic) that Eagles teammates were not happy with Hurts' style of play.
That was despite the fact Hurts had just one interception entering Week 12.
“When you go outside of that — especially nowadays — when there's so many media outlets, there's so many social media, everybody wants to pounce on you,” says Peete. “Then they try to create the friction between Jalen and A.J. Brown that probably isn't fair. He's not necessarily directing it at Jalen, more directing that at the play calling and the targeting that he's not getting. But indirectly, Jalen is going to feel that ‘I'm the quarterback, and he's telling me, and he's telling everyone that he's not getting the ball enough. So he's basically talking to me.'”
Peete gives major credit to Hurts for having the maturity to take it and not make the topic an even bigger deal. It's worth noting that Hurts has the most wins (45) of any quarterback since the start of the 2022 season.
“The maturity of Jalen is exceptional, because he didn't get caught up into that,” says Peete of Hurts. “I always used to say, ‘Hey, you got an issue, talk to me. Let's figure it out together.' Not let's not go outside the building to do that. That's the only unfortunate thing that I think about A.J. Brown, is he has taken it to the streets and taking it public that he's unhappy. There's some other things going on with the team.”
The Eagles are obviously in a good spot right now, second in the conference to the Los Angeles Rams, whom they beat earlier this season. But knowing how the media is waiting to feast on the defending Super Bowl champs, they'll have to bounce back against the 8-3 Chicago Bears on Black Friday.
If they continue to lose, the friction within the Eagles locker room will continue to be a focal point.
