Nick Sirianni Makes Lame Excuse for A.J. Brown’s Drops in Wild-Card Loss to 49ers

Kristen Wong | 1 Hour Ago

Eagles wideout AJ Brown had a number of uncharacteristic drops in Sunday’s wild-card loss to the 49ers. / Geoff Burke-Imagn Images

The Eagles saw their season end in a bitter defeat against the 49ers in the wild-card round of the playoffs, with no player perhaps under as much scrutiny as star wide receiver A.J. Brown.

Brown has become a lightning rod for drama in his past few years on the Eagles, from his viral book-reading antics on the sidelines to his disgruntled social media posts more recently this last season. In Sunday’s wild-card game, Brown was expected to have a big role in the passing game, but ultimately fell flat, finishing with just three catches on seven targets for 25 yards. He declined to speak to the media following the loss.

While the Eagles’ offense visibly underperformed as a unit, Brown had several critical drops that prematurely ended drives, such as this one on a key third down late in the fourth:

#flyeaglesfly AJ Brown one of the most overrated players in the league locker room problem drops his SECOND ball of the night this time setting the eagles in 4th down pic.twitter.com/3vLbV3p5mz

— Jimbo (@JimbosJunkbox) January 12, 2026

In total, the Eagles had four drops on third down, the most in a playoff game since ESPN started tracking the stat in 2006.

Eagles coach Nick Sirianni appeared to give Brown the benefit of the doubt over his costly drops in his postgame presser.

“The wind... He’s got the best hands I’ve ever seen, the way he catches the ball, the amount of different types of catches he’s made. When you get as many targets as he does, you’re going to have some drops,” Sirianni said. “Not ever using it as an excuse, but the ball moves differently in the wind. I thought Jalen did a good job of cutting it in the wind a lot of times.

“He’ll beat himself up about that. I know A.J., he’ll catch 9,000 balls with the one drop that he had.”

Sirianni claimed he didn’t want to use the weather as an excuse, but it nonetheless seemed to come off as one.

He went on to elaborate on his heated sideline altercation with Brown before the end of the first half:

“I was trying to get him off the field because we were about to punt, and that was really it,” Sirianni told reporters. “I love A.J., I think he knows how I feel about him. I have a special relationship with him. We probably went through every emotion you could possibly have together, we’ve laughed together, we’ve cried together, we’ve yelled at each other. We’re both emotional. ... That happens in this game.”

Nick Sirianni on the sideline altercation with AJ Brown

Says he and AJ have been through everything together — laughing, crying, etc — and that they are fine pic.twitter.com/md2yLyQwqL

— Eliot Shorr-Parks (@EliotShorrParks) January 12, 2026

After a season of stirred-up drama and bitter disappointment, Brown will be an intriguing potential trade candidate to watch as the Eagles prepare to retool their roster. The 28-year-old wideout managed to extend his 1,000-yard receiving streak in 2025 and scored as many touchdowns (seven) as he did last year, but in the wake of his poor playoff outing against the 49ers, it feels like his time in Philly could be coming to an end.

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