At the end of the third quarter of last night’s Philadelphia Eagles 34-28 win over the Minnesota Vikings, WR A.J. Brown was visibly frustrated in a brief exchange with QB Jalen Hurts.
Brown seemed to be upset upset about not getting targeted enough in the passing game. He had six targets, catching four passes for 29 yards, his lowest yardage total since Week 10 of last season.
Hurts squashed what happened between the confrontation and the idea of any lingering issues. Hurts said that the exchange was about Brown just wanting to help the team win.
“Yeah, I think everybody wants to make plays, and everybody wants to contribute,” Hurts said, as per NJ.com. “I have no worry about him. He is a great player, great teammate, great friend. We’ll do anything and everything with winning in mind.”
The Eagles other star receiver DeVonta Smith had four catches for 131 yards, including a 63-yard touchdown.
After the game, Smith stuck up for Brown.“That’s part of being a competitor, man. You always want to feel you’re a part of the team, helping the team and things like that,” Smith said.
“Anytime something like that is going on, it’s not anything bad. He’s not bashing nobody. He just wants to feel part of the team, wants to help us.”
Brown did catch a touchdown pass that was called back for a holding penalty, then dropped another one while being interfered with, though a penalty wasn’t called.
Last night, the Eagles the running game was working well. D’Andre Swift was having a huge night running the ball behind the Eagles elite offensive line.
Swift rushed for 175 yards and a touchdown on 28 carries. The Eagles as a team ran for a total of 250 yards. The Eagles offensive line was opening up gaping holes and offensive coordinator Brian Johnson was taking advantage of it, by continuing to call running plays.
Offensively the Eagles have struggled to move the ball at times during the first two games. A lot of the blame has been placed on bad play-calling by Johnson, who is in his first-year as offensive coordinator.
Much of what has been happening, is that teams are defending the Eagles differently than last year. The Eagles now must continue to find ways to counter what’s being done.
The passing plays will be there. Brown will have big games. Stuff like players being frustrated and complaining happens to all teams in all sports.
With Nick Sirianni as Head Coach and with Jalen Hurts being the leader that he is, this sideline interaction is nothing to worry about. Just keep on winning. Winning cures all.
The Philadelphia Eagles are 2-0 to start their 2023 season, and although it hasn’t been easy for the defending NFC champions, they are continuing to win. Just wait until they begin to click on all cylinders.
Photo courtsey of Eliot Shorr-Parks/X-Twitter
