A.J. Brown sometimes forgets just how much influence he has, but the superstar receiver got a reminder this week.
After a FOX camera caught him reading “Inner Excellence” by Jim Murphy during the wild-card win over the Packers, the book catapulted into an overnight success and quickly became the top-selling book on Amazon.
“Me personally, I’m very humble,” Brown said. “Sometimes I forget who I am in a sense of how big stuff can get blown out of proportion. Because to me, I’m just being myself. I’m not trying to cause a distraction or stuff like that. But hats off to Jim. I talked to him. He’s a great guy and the book is amazing. For all who bought the book, you should check it out.”
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While there have been plenty of positive reactions about Brown’s reading a book on the sideline, there have been some negative too. On his weekly radio hit on 94WIP, head coach Nick Sirianni said it was “lazy” for some to jump to conclusions about Brown’s reasons for reading on the sideline.
Brown said he does it to put his mind at peace during games. He has read this particular book on the sideline for most of the season.
“I’m going to continue to be myself,” Brown said. “I’m not pretending, it’s not a facade or anything. Who cares who don’t like it? I’m a three-time All-Pro. Yes, I’m gonna pop my s—. That’s just what it is. I do that for myself. I don’t care what nobody like. I’m not a distraction. Most importantly, I go out there and do my job. So all the other s— just don’t matter.”
Despite playing in just 13 games this season, Brown still had 67 catches for 1,079 yards and 7 touchdowns. He was named a second-team All-Pro for the second consecutive season despite being snubbed for the Pro Bowl.
NFL
Ready for the snow
There’s some snow in the forecast for Sunday at the Linc and the Eagles are ready for it.
“I know our guys are tough, I know our guys are physical,” head coach Nick Sirianni said. “There’s different things you do in a snow game depending on how the snow is, just like there’s different things you do in a rain game, just like there’s different things you do in a wind game. And so I know our guys will handle the elements regardless of what they are this weekend.”
The Eagles have been seeing a lot of Lincoln Financial Field the last two weeks and not just on Sundays. With the No. 2 seed and a win in the wild-card round, the Eagles earned the right two host at least two playoff game at their stadium in this run.
And with frigid temperatures in Philadelphia recently they have also practiced at the stadium the last two weeks too.
“The field is frozen outside,” head coach Nick Sirianni said last week. “We've tried to get outside as much as we possibly can. We play outside, so unless it's a torrential downpour or the wind is completely out of control, we're going to go outside. Can't go out there today as far as our facility because the field will be frozen, so we will go over to the stadium.”
The Eagles got a taste of some snow this week.
Protecting the Brotherly Shove
Against the Packers in the fourth quarter, the Eagles lined up for a Tush Push on 3rd-and-1 from their own 49-yard line and took a shot. Instead of keeping it, Jalen Hurts lofted a deep pass to A.J. Brown that fell incomplete. Brown had a step on his defender but the pass was just off the mark.
In a game with a mostly conservative game plan, this was an aggressive call.
“It was a play that we've had in for a number of weeks,” offensive coordinator Kellen Moore said. “We were trying to find the right opportunity to present it. Obviously, we feel really good about the sneak, and it was a 3rd-and-1 that gave us a chance to be aggressive there with the 4th-and-1 in our pocket. Took a chance. Obviously, it's an aggressive call. We were close, but it didn't happen. We'll see what happens next.”
After the incompletion, the Eagles actually ran the Tush Push and moved the chains on fourth down.
Even though the shot play didn’t work, it might have still served its purpose. Because the Tush Push (or Brotherly Shove) is one of the Eagles’ most effective plays. And any wrinkle they run off it if helps protect that play. If putting that play on tape puts any doubt in the minds of defenders and slows them down by a millisecond firing off the ball the next time the Eagles line up in that formation, then it’ll all be worth it.
“There's always value to the things you put on tape to force things to think about what has been done and what could be done,” Moore said. “So we took a shot. I thought it was worthwhile, and we were able to get the sneak on the next play.”
A reminder about Goedert
Tight end Dallas Goedert was limited to just 10 games in the regular season this year but had a big performance in the wild-card round win. He had 4 catches for 47 yards, including an angry 24-yard catch-and-run touchdown with a few stiff-arms along the way.
Goedert said his favorite reaction to the touchdown came from rookie edge rusher Jalyx Hunt.
“He came up to me and hyped me up a little bit,” Goedert said. “It always makes you feel good. He’s been doing a tremendous job with his increased role. That was pretty cool.”
Not only did Goedert have some big plays through the air but he also had a really good game as a run blocker. Goedert said it was one of his best blocking performances of the last couple of years.
Goedert is in his seventh NFL season. And when he’s healthy, there aren’t many better dual-threat tight ends in the league — but he has missed considerable time.
“I don’t really worry about other people’s opinions,” Goedert said. “I think that the people in this building know what I’m capable of, know what I bring to the table each and every time. Leave that to the other people, but I have full belief in myself and I have full belief in me from everyone on the team as well. But it’s important to go out there and keep reminding people.”
A free agency swing-and-miss
It has been a disappointing season for free agent pickup Bryce Huff and if you were holding out hope that he’d contribute in the playoffs, that isn’t looking good either.
Huff against the Packers played just one defensive snap. The Eagles elected to use their three-man edge rusher rotation with Nolan Smith, Josh Sweat and Jalyx Hunt.
“We had a good three-man rotation with the other guys,” Fangio said. “And we just stuck with it.”
It was a projection in March when the Eagles signed Huff to a three-year, $51.1 million contract. Huff was coming off a 10-sack season and his advanced stats over the last couple of seasons were really impressive. But the Eagles were projecting him to be a starter and it became clear pretty early on that he wasn’t ready for that role. He became a rotational player and then hurt his wrist and needed surgery. He returned but now that the Eagles are in the playoffs, he’s an afterthought.
Looking ahead at next year, cutting Huff before June 1 would leave $29 million in dead money and even a trade would leave $12.9 million in dead money, per OverTheCap. That trade figure becomes a little more palatable after June 1 but the Eagles might be stuck with him in 2025.
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