Philadelphia Eagles WR A.J. Brown: ‘4-0 Means Nothing!’
PHILADELPHIA – Nobody is ready to win the Super Bowl right now. Those were the words of Philadelphia Eagles center Jason Kelce, who has been to a pair of Super Bowls and won one.
So, he knows.
Those words still hold true as the calendar flips to October. Teams want to be playing their best football in November and December. The Eagles have yet to play their best football, but they are 4-0, and that’s the best they can be at the moment.
When the schedule gets tougher, they will need to play better. Nobody is denying that, especially after the Eagles’ knock-down, drag-out 34-31 overtime win against the Eagles’ NFC East rival Washington Commanders at Lincoln Financial Field on Sunday.
“The record says nothing,” said receiver A.J. Brown in the aftermath of the triumph. “These experiences are everything because we’re learning from them. We’re in these tough situations, we’re learning and we’re figuring out ways to get a win most importantly.
“The record right now, of course, we want to put our best foot forward and be heading in the right direction, but that 4-0 stuff that means nothing. Nobody’s walking around, ‘Woohoo, we’re 4-0.’ That’s not it.”
There isn’t a player on the roster that doesn’t have something to clean up so the Eagles can be playing at their very best when the schedule goes into beast mode, including Brown.
A.J. Brown scores his second touchdown of the Eagles' 34-31 OT win over the Washington Commanders.
USA Today
The receiver missed his career-high in receiving by six yards, settling for 175 yards with touchdowns covering 59 and 28 yards.
"Shoutout to my teammates blocking downfield," said Brown, of his 59-yard catch-and-run score. "We caught them in the right defense at the right time. It was marinating all game and we were hoping we could catch them in it. I just got the ball and my teammates showed up for me.
There was, however, the matter of his unsportsmanlike penalty when he handed the ball to Commanders rookie Emmanuel Forbes after beating the cornerback for a 28-yard score with less than two minutes to give Philly what looked like would be the winning margin at 31-24.
It was essentially an 11-yard penalty after Washington set up shop for its game-tying drive at the 36 after the Eagles had to kick off from the 20, not the 35.
“There was a lot of competition out there, emotions were high and I expected it,” said Brown about the penalty. “I want that. I made a good play, Jalen (Hurts) gave me a check, I made a good play but I have to be better.
“I’m a vet now. I can’t do stuff like that now, put the ball in front of him. It was unnecessary, cost us some yardage on the kickoff. I have to be better than that.”
As for the meat grinder schedule still to come, the Eagles will travel to Los Angeles this week to play the Rams followed by a trip to New York to play the Jets.
After that, they will host the Miami Dolphins, have a rematch in Landover, Md., against the Commanders, host the Dallas Cowboys, visit the Kansas City Chiefs, host the Buffalo Bills and San Francisco 49ers, then road trip to Dallas.
That’s a rough seven-game stretch, and certainly better play will be required to emerge with a winning record. The Eagles know this, and that's a good sign.
“You want to continue to raise the level of your play so you’re playing your best ball at the end of the year,” said head coach Nick Sirianni. “It’s not easy to be 4-0, right? Us and the 49ers are the only two teams…it isn’t easy.
"Obviously, there are 30 teams that would like to be in our spot. We’re grateful for where we are right now, at 4-0, but we know there’s a lot of work to be done to get better.”
