A.J. Brown's Silence Speaks Volumes for Struggling Eagles

Despite not talking to the media the last two games, Philadelphia Eagles receiver A.J. Brown is "as good of a teammate" as he is, per Nick Sirianni.

PHILADELPHIA – The two signs still hang at his locker inside the Philadelphia Eagles’ practice facility in South Philly. Both of them still say, “Always Open.”

A.J. Brown usually is, more often than not, always open on the field, except his locker has been closed to conversation for the past two weeks. A lot of talk during that span has been about the receiver, even though it’s not the receiver who is doing any of the talking.

Brown didn’t talk after the team beat the New York Giants, a win that seemingly lifted a massive weight off the team’s shoulders because it ended a three-game losing streak. At least verbally, Brown isn’t speaking.

Nonverbally may be another story.

A.J. Brown :: Ed Kracz/SI Eagles Today

During the Eagles’ ill-fated drive that netted only a field goal after recovering an onside kick attempt by the Arizona Cardinals late in the fourth quarter of what turned into a 35-31 loss in Week 17, Brown was seen walking off the field shaking his head from side to side in seeming disagreement with the Eagles’ decision to try a dump off pass to Kenny Gainwell on third-and-19 from Arizona’s 29-yard line.

The little dump-off pass gained four yards. More frustrating was that the Eagles had to burn a timeout before running the play.

Brown was visibly upset, and why not? On third-and-20 a week earlier against the New York Giants, Brown worked his way open for a momentum-changing 32-yard catch.

Neither head coach Nick Sirianni nor offensive coordinator Brian Johnson had good answers about the series that featured a D’Andre Swift run for no yards, a holding penalty on Jordan Mailata, and two Jalen Hurts-designed runs that totaled one yard.

“I don't want to speak for him, but obviously we're all frustrated,” said Sirianni. “We're all frustrated right now, especially coming off that loss yesterday. And so you want to be able to have fun. You want to be able to do all these things, and you know, that football brings, but sometimes it's hard to have fun and hard to find the enjoyment when you're in a rut like we are.

“…there's nobody as good of a teammate. There is nobody that's as good of a person as [Eagles WR] A.J. [Brown] and shoot, he's one of our very best players and one of our best players since I've been here in the past three years.

Brown’s only play of the second half was an 18-yard reception after the onside kick that set the Eagles up in field goal range. He was targeted once on 10 second-half pass attempts. That is simply not enough for the team’s best receiver.

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“I don't remember exactly every single pass that we ran in the second half, but A.J. is a great player and we've got to force him the ball sometimes and make sure we get him going,” said Johnson on Wednesday as the Eagles prepare for their regular-season finale in New York against the Giants.

Brown is a potential Hall of Fame player. He is on that trajectory.

About to finish his fifth season, the first three of which were spent with the Tennessee Titans, he has 5,938 yards receiving with 42 touchdowns. He is 50 yards away from breaking his career-high and the Eagles’ team record for most yards. He will take 1,447 yards with him into Sunday’s regular-season finale.

“A.J. is a fantastic player,” said Johnson. “He demands a lot of attention defensively. He's had a fantastic year to this point. I think he's still on pace to have a career year. A.J. is somebody that obviously everybody in this building has a lot of trust, a lot of respect for and we've got to do a great job of getting him the ball. I have to do a great job of getting him the ball.”

Brown and the Eagles face off against the New York Giants on Sunday. Kickoff is set for 4:25 p.m. ET.