Nick Sirianni Explains A.J. Brown's Perceived Unhappiness vs. Giants
To those watching on TV, it didn’t look like A.J. Brown was very happy despite the Eagles blowing out the New York Giants in last Saturday’s divisional playoff game.
He seemed much better in the postgame locker room, though, joking with teammates.
The issue was an injury that popped up when he got hit in the leg and hip area during the game.
The bump limited him to 51 of the 70 snaps the Eagles' offense had. It was his third-fewest snaps of the season after the 39 he had in the blowout of the Pittsburgh Steelers and the loss to the Washington Commanders.
“He was going through a little something with his body that was hurting him,” said head coach Nick Sirianni on Monday afternoon. “We feel like he'll be ready to go this week, but he was hurting in that game. That's why he wasn't in the game.”
The coach seemed to downplay any issues Brown may have had with his targets. He had six, but just three catches for only 22 yards.
“He's always going to want the ball,” said Sirianni. “He's a really good player. Not really anybody in the pass game really got a lot of targets or a lot of opportunities because we were running the ball so well.
“But that's what you want from your receivers, to want to have the football. Part of the reason why receivers are good is because they want and crave the football. They want the ball to change the game.”
With the Eagles running the ball so well against the Giants, piling up 268 yards on the ground, quarterback Jalen Hurts had to attempt just 24 passes. He completed 16 of those.
DeVonta Smith had 10 targets and finished with six receptions for 61 yards and a 9-yard touchdown on a screen pass. It was a touchdown that would not have been possible without an A.J. Brown block that cleared out the perimeter.
“Make no mistake about it, he was thrilled that we won the football game,” said Sirianni about Brown. “Always wants to be involved, obviously, in the plan. He blocked his butt off, and you could see how excited he was when he sprang that block for DeVonta’s touchdown.
“But obviously he was really excited and celebrated in the locker room with all of us after the win."
Ed Kracz is the publisher of SI.com’s Fan Nation Eagles Today and co-host of the Eagles Unfiltered Podcast. Check out the latest Eagles news at www.SI.com/NFL/Eagles or www.eaglesmaven.com and please follow him on Twitter: @kracze.
