A.J. Brown didn’t have the numbers in the Eagles’ win, but a block made all the difference
A.J. Brown didn’t have the big numbers Monday night in Green Bay.
Heck, beyond the Eagles’ first possession, he didn’t even see another target until that bizarre 4th and 6 call to take a shot toward the end zone, with only a narrow lead and just above 30 seconds left.
Even so, the powerful wide receiver made his impact in an often ugly, but no less crucial 10-7 win for the Birds over the Packers.
He threw a block.
The Eagles’ offense – the Packers’ too – had been stuck in the mud all game, and only leading 3-0 in the fourth quarter while their defense held it together, Philly needed something to break.
Spotted at their own 23, the Eagles were facing a 3rd and 7 on a drive that looked destined for another three-and-out after Saquon Barkley’s second-down run got knocked a yard backwards.
But then the star running back was left open. Jalen Hurts took the snap from the gun and looked downfield to his right, but saw nothing there as Green Bay’s secondary drifted into the quarterback’s view to cover.
Barkley, in the offensive backfield, slid out left completely under Green Bay’s radar, giving Hurts an outlet as soon as he turned his head and Barkley all kinds of space ahead once the pass got to him.
Barkley spun right by Packers cornerback Carrington Valentine, who became the victim of another Eagles-Packers highlight-reel moment. Then, with the play still moving, Brown spun around himself and stayed ahead of Barkley as they broke down the sideline for the first down and then some.
Green Bay safety Xavier McKinney tried to move in for the tackle, but Brown cut him off and pushed him away, which let Barkley shift inside for a few more yards until McKinney recovered enough to drag him down.
It was a 41-yard gain for Barkley and the biggest offensive play all night at a pivotal point for the Eagles.
One snap later, Hurts launched the ball up for DeVonta Smith, who leaped and came down with the contested 36-yard pass for the game’s first touchdown and a 10-0 Eagles lead late.
Smith and Barkley got the glory on that sequence, and Brown wanted to keep it that way postgame.
“That’s a part of my job,” Brown told reporters as he recounted the Barkley play. “I gotta block. That’s not really something I should be highlighted for. Saquon should be. He made the guy miss.”
But in a game that was so low scoring and, up until that drive and even after, offensively frustrating for just about every player in a white Eagles jersey, that block Brown threw was huge, and didn’t go unnoticed.
“We’re up 3-0, and Jalen and Saquon make this great play, and A.J.gets a block on the play, we really needed that in that moment,” head coach Nick Sirianni said. “You just gotta stay in the moment, and what a good example for our guys.”
“You’re gonna be up sometimes, you’re gonna be down sometimes,” Sirianni continued. “But it’s about how you respond and how you be in the moment for that next one, because all that matters is that next play.”
Production-wise, Brown has been down a lot this year.
By the end of Monday night, Brown saw just three targets in total for two catches and 13 yards.
For the season, he’s averaging 3.9 catches and 51.0 yards per game, along with a 13.2 yards-per-reception rate that are all either sitting at career lows or trending towards ones not seen since his rookie year in Tennessee.
There have been long stretches this year, too, where the Eagles either can’t get the ball to Brown or didn’t appear to be looking to.
And the frustration in that has been visible from the wideout, both on the field and through some cryptic social media posts that have, in turn, drawn concern from the outside and even speculation league-wide about Brown’s future in Philadelphia.
But if there are any consistencies about Brown and the Eagles going back through last year’s Super Bowl run, and really, since he arrived to Philadelphia in 2022, it’s that Brown has generally been lauded as a teammate, that ego ultimately gets left at the door once the team is on the field, and that contributing and rising to the occasion, one way or another, does get appreciated within the building.
Just about everyone with an interest in the Eagles wants to see Brown get the big numbers.
But this year, under a variety of arguments, the stats haven’t been there, and hardly were for anyone on Monday night.
Even so, Brown found his way to make an impact.
He threw a block, the Eagles got downfield, and they scored what stood as the winning touchdown.
There’s little glory in it, but it made a difference.
“I wouldn’t say it’s about being happy or frustrated or anything,” Brown said. “I think it’s just come to work with the mindset of just getting better. That’s what we have to do.”
Eric Hartline/Imagn Images
There are still a lot of ways A.J. Brown can make a difference for the Eagles.
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