Brown's Titans Tenure Prepared Him for What's Next

The Philadelphia Eagles wide receiver played in a conference championship game and starred against the San Francisco 49ers during his first three NFL seasons.

Eric Hartline / USA Today Sports

A.J. Brown knows what – and who – he is up against Sunday. In each case, he has reason to feel good about things.

The former Tennessee Titans wide receiver will play in a conference championship for the second time in his four-year NFL career when the Philadelphia Eagles host the San Francisco 49ers on Sunday to determine the NFC representative in Super Bowl LVII.

The first time was his first year with Tennessee. A 35-24 loss at Kansas City ended the Titans’ unexpected playoff run and concluded Brown’s rookie season. He was his team’s second-leading receiver in that one with three receptions for 51 yards, and his 37-yard reception on the second snap of the contest was Tennessee’s longest gain of the day.

The Eagles will be at home this weekend because they finished the regular season with the league’s best record, 14-3.

“Definitely know what the atmosphere is like, but this time it’s on my side, being home,” Brown said this week, via The Athletic. “It still comes down to making plays, making every drive count.”

That is definitely something experience has taught him.

The Titans scored on their first three drives that day against the Chiefs (two touchdowns and a field goal), led by 10 early in the second quarter and stayed in front until the final seconds of the first half. The offense stalled, however, and punted three straight times while Kansas City’s strung together five touchdowns in six drives, a stretch that included all or parts of all four quarters.

Things were dramatically different the last time he faced the 49ers, which was late in the 2021 season in what turned out to be his next-to-last home game with the Titans. Fresh off injured reserve, Brown set a career-high with 11 receptions for 145 yards and a touchdown. More than half of those receptions came in the second half, when Tennessee scored on four of five possessions.

He would be more than happy with a repeat performance, particularly since he caught just three passes for 22 yards in Philadelphia’s divisional round victory over the New York Giants.

“I really believe in myself, and I feel like I can take over the game whenever I get the opportunity,” Brown said. “Of course, I want the ball. I crave the ball. That’s as much as I can sum it up.”