Longtime Philadelphia Eagles defensive end Brandon Graham did not mince his words when describing the rift between quarterback Jalen Hurts and receiver A.J. Brown.
Brown attempted to pinpoint why the Eagles’ offense struggled against a typically-porous Carolina Panthers defense. “Passing,” the All-Pro receiver admitted. “What we did today is not [good enough]. It won’t help us.”
Graham addressed Brown’s comments and revealed a growing split in the locker room during a radio hit on Monday with 94WIP: “I know 1 [Hurts] is trying and 11 [Brown] could be better with how he responds to things,” he said. “They were friends, but things have changed.”
The 11-2 Eagles eeked out a 22-16 victory over the 3-10 Panthers thanks in part to Carolina receiver Xavier Leggette’s untimely drop in the endzone with less than a minute left that would have tied the game.
The news that Hurts and Brown may not be friends comes as a surprise – the pair have been extremely close off the field, even before the star recevier was traded to Philadelphia in 2022.
Hurts is the godfather to Brown’s daughter Jersee. Hurts tried to recruit Brown to Alabama while the receiver was still in high school.
“We just hit it off,” Brown told ESPN in 2022 of his recruiting visit to Alabama. “I just kind of gravitated towards him because he’s a good person, most importantly. I think people can recognize good people when they see them. You could feel that vibe from him, and I think it just started from that visit.”
Hurts did not have his finest day through the air against the Panthers, completing just 14 of his 21 passes for a season-low 108 yards. The Eagles relied heavily on the legs of Saquon Barkley – the star running back churned out 124 yards on the ground.
The Eagles quarterback is averaging just 200.2 yards per game this year, the lowest mark since he appeared in spot duty during his 2020 rookie campaign.
Brown led the the Eagles with 43 receiving yards, though he was out-targeted by fellow receiver DeVonta Smith 6-4. Brown is fresh off consecutive Second-team All-Pro nominations and tallied nearly 3000 yards during his first two full seasons in Philadelphia.
He missed three games earlier this season with a hamstring injury but is still on pace to match his yardage total from years past: his 83.6 yards per game average is down only two from last season.
Smith’s yards per game average of 55.3 is the lowest since his rookie 2021 season. He also weighed in on the Eagles’ poor passing attack: “I think we can do a lot better,” he admitted. “Pass game we can be a lot better…We didn’t play up to our standard.”
Graham was selected by the Eagles in the first round of the 2011 NFL Draft and has remained a mainstay of the team’s defense ever since. His 76.5 sacks are the third most in franchise history.
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