Philadelphia Eagles WR A.J. Brown Feels Fan Frustration: 'We Want to Do It For Y’all'

Philadelphia Eagles star receiver A.J. Brown responded to criticism on social media and admits that was a mistake.
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PHILADELPHIA - A.J. Brown was frustrated after a third consecutive Philadelphia Eagles loss ended with Jalen Hurts trying to allow his star receiver to make a big play down the field.

Instead, Seattle safety Julian Love showed impressive range to race from center field to intercept an underthrow and secure a 20-17 Seahawks triumph.

In typical X/Twitter fashion, many took to the social media platform to express their anger at everyone from head coach Nick Sirianni, offensive coordinator Brian Johnson, Hurts, and Brown himself.

And A.J. wasn’t having it.

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On Friday, SI.com’s Eagles Today caught up with Brown and asked him about how he handled the admittedly ill-informed criticism.

Brown, who will enter a Christmas Day matchup with the New York Giants with 95 receptions for 1,314 yards and seven touchdowns, offered up a passionate response.

“I didn’t handle that correctly. And I’m man enough to say that,” Brown said.

A.J. Brown
There has been far more good than bad for A.J. Brown this season / USA Today

Brown often demands the football and when big moments go south he understands criticism will follow.

“I pride myself on being the best,” he said. “When the game is on the line, throw me the ball. So when things don’t go my way, it’s OK, sure, put the blame on me. I accept that. To much is given, much is required.”

It ended up as a cathartic moment for the All-Pro:

“So I had to sit down and really think to myself, like, ‘Yeah, if they do put the blame on me, sure, I asked for that. I asked to be in that chair.’ Who cares? So what?

“That don’t define me. None of that stuff defines me.”

A.J. Brown Says NFL Should Get Rid of Monday Night Football

What Browns does want fans to know is how hard he and his teammates are working to halt a three-game skid and return to a potential Super Bowl trajectory.

“I know for a fact that we’re working our tails off. Like, me personally, I know I’m working my tail off, and trying to do whatever I can to help this team win,” he said. “So that’s why you see that little frustration that comes in, and stuff like that, because I know I dedicated my life for this.

“I sacrificed time with my own family for this game, to be with my teammates to win games. So it means a lot to me. It means the world to me.”

So much so that Brown admitted he was still broken up after returning to the Pacific Northwest in the early morning hours on Tuesday.

“I told (people) on the way home, we got home at 7 in the morning, and I’m damn near crying on the way home,” Brown said. “It means a lot to me. We feel the frustration from this city. We feel that. We want to do it for y’all.

“Most importantly, we want to do it for our teammates, our brothers that we go to war with. We’re working hard. We’re giving blood, sweat and tears to this game. So, fans, I don’t want them to think that we don’t care, that we’re not trying our best. But we got a standard, we gotta uphold the standard. We don’t want no excuses either. We’re 10 times harder on ourselves than anybody can be on us.”


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John McMullen
JOHN MCMULLEN

John McMullen is a veteran reporter who has covered the NFL for over two decades. The current NFL insider for JAKIB Media, John is the former NFL Editor for The Sports Network where his syndicated column was featured in over 200 outlets including the Los Angeles Times, Chicago Tribune, and Miami Herald. He was also the national NFL columnist for Today's Pigskin as well as FanRag Sports. McMullen has covered the Eagles on a daily basis since 2016, first for ESPN South Jersey and now for Eagles Today on SI.com's FanNation. You can listen to John, alongside legendary sports-talk host Jody McDonald every morning from 8-10 on ‘Birds 365,” streaming live on YouTube.com. John is also the host of his own show "Extending the Play" on AM1490 in South Jersey and part of 6ABC.com's live postgame show after every Eagles game. You can reach him at jmcmullen44@gmail.com or on Twitter @JFMcMullen