The Eagles have lost four of their last five games and one of their best offensive players has been displaying some clear frustration.
Head coach Nick Sirianni addressed receiver A.J. Brown’s discontent by saying, “We’re all frustrated.” Brown hasn’t reached 100 yards since the Dec. 3 loss to the 49ers, though he did have nine catches for 94 yards the next week against Dallas. But in the three games since, he’s caught five for 56, six for 80, and four for 53 in the New Year’s Eve loss to the Cardinals.
Brown had just five targets in Week 17, making just one reception after halftime on the only pass quarterback Jalen Hurts threw to him.
Why wasn’t Brown more involved?
“We didn’t run a whole bunch of plays,” Eagles offensive coordinator Brian Johnson said in his Tuesday press conference. “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.”
Brown had six consecutive games with at least 125 yards receiving earlier this year. He’s caught 105 passes for 1,447 yards with seven touchdowns. He needs just 50 yards in Sunday’s matchup with the Giants to set a new single-season career-high in the category.
But based on Brown’s production in the last few games, the Eagles want to make him a more consistent target as the team heads into the postseason.
“A.J. is a fantastic player. He demands a lot of attention defensively,” Johnson said. “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.”