Eagles alum didn’t mince words about the responsibility of getting A.J. Brown more involved in the offensive attack.
There aren’t many fan bases and media markets that obsess over their favorite football teams like the contingent following the Philadelphia Eagles. It’s another level of passion. There may be fan bases just as supportive, but there isn’t one more so.
Everything is under the microscope. Nothing changes that. Wins are dissected as thoroughly as the losses, maybe even more. In the City of Brotherly Love, how the Eagles win or lose is just as important as the losses themselves.
So, imagine having a team whose offense features DeVonta Smith, A.J. Brown, Saquon Barkley, and Dallas Goedert at the skill positions. That team shouldn’t have the highest percentage of three-and-outs after ten weeks of action.
That team shouldn’t score ten points in any game under any circumstances. That team shouldn’t have so many issues getting the ball to one of the game’s most talented wide receivers. Ladies and gentlemen, an Eagles legend has had about enough.
Seth Joynet gives Kevin Patullo and the Eagles’ offense its marching orders.
In eight starts this season, Brown has hauled in 31 receptions for 408 yards and three trips to the end zone. That’s almost inexcusable. It’s a fact that isn’t lost on anyone watching, primarily Eagles alum. Seth Joyner spent eight years in Eagles green, and he has a few words to offer Nick Sirianni, Kevin Patullo, and company. Check out the cquote and the audio below.
“You cannot throw A.J. Brown two targets for two catches and 13 yards in 60 minutes of football. That is coaching negligence because no other player in the National Football League, that’s a 1A type of wide receiver, gets treated like that.”
Those were Joyner’s words during his weekly sit-down with 94 WIP FM. To those who state A.J. doesn’t get open as often as he used to, the former linebacker has a theory about that type of rationale as well.
“You get in the lab and creatively find a way. I don’t care if you got to take A.J. from the X and put him in the slot, and move Jahan Dotson to the X,” Joyner continued. “You figure out a way to move him and get him involved and get him the football.”
Joyner is absolutely right. This offense has to get its All-Pro more involved. Yes, winning is all that matters, and style points aren’t all that important. Then again, if the best players are involved more and they receive more touches, maybe the margin of victory widens.
This offense may be spread so thin due to a lack of creativity. Here’s what we have learned while watching this team with A.J. Brown in the lineup. When Number 11 gets his hands on the football, great things happen.
Brown knows that. It’s the main reason he clamors for the ball, but we’ll let him tell you himself. After all, no one can express their feelings better than they can, and they recently expressed all of this through a recent confession posted on social media.
“I know everybody’s counting on me — that’s my thrill, and then I come through. That makes me proud of myself. And I’m doing it over and over again. And then I got another opportunity a couple of plays later. Third down. Everybody knows the ball’s coming to me. I love that feeling. Like, it’s a rush. I don’t do drugs, but that has to be what drugs feels like. And I’m getting that dopamine. And I’m coming through for my team again. And that’s where the excitement comes from. And that’s why it’s frustrating at times. And maybe people really misunderstand me as a player, but those feelings — that’s what I want.”
The wide receiver position is co-dependent. They don’t touch the ball on every play like a quarterback. They need a scheme and targets to get their gloves on the football.
Kevin Patullo needs more than bland play calling and a handful of routes that Number 11 has run over and over. Maybe that’s part of the reason he isn’t ‘getting open’ with relative ease and as frequently.
The offensive line has been injured. Attrition may be setting in with Saquon Barkley. The play calling hasn’t been as imaginative, but everyone knows the truth. For this team to reach its desired destination, A.J. Brown must be an essential and utilized component in this offense. Otherwise, if he isn’t, the stagnancy in the attack will only continue.
