Eagles ‘enforcer’ A.J. Brown is used to saying what ‘everybody else wouldn’t want to say.’ Now, Saquon Barkley is helping.
Barkley is the main subject of this week’s “unCovering the Birds,” including how he’s helped Brown play the role of bad cop in the locker room.
Saquon Barkley has been running all over teams this year, bringing the Eagles’ rushing attack to new heights as he chases Eric Dickerson’s single-season rushing record. However, there’s a flip side to the team becoming a run-first offense: potentially taking targets away from receivers like A.J. Brown.
But Brown has developed a close relationship with Barkley regardless, thanks to the running back’s willingness to hold the offensive group accountable, a burden Brown has shouldered on his own in the past.
“What really made us connect was, I was the enforcer on offense, and I would say whatever everybody else wouldn’t want to say,” Brown told The Inquirer’s Jeff McLane on the latest episode of unCovering the Birds. “He came in, and it was like he was helping me. He took on some of the pressure on me, because I was the guy that. It’s frowned upon when I say something, so I’m like, I really need somebody else to start talking, and he started speaking up. We just clicked.”
After Sunday’s close win over the Carolina Panthers, Brown once again stepped into the enforcer role, calling out the team’s lack of success in the passing game, saying that it’s “incredibly tough” to get into a rhythm when the team doesn’t throw the ball very much. But with Barkley’s success and the team’s success as a whole, Brown has taken a step back for most of the season and let the team succeed.
During the Eagles’ current nine-game winning streak since the bye, which is when the offense really turned into a run-heavy attack, Brown has 43 receptions (on 53 targets) for 717 yards and three touchdowns. Over that same stretch last season (Games 5-13), Brown had 61 receptions (on 88 targets) for 844 yards and five touchdowns. That’s an average of four fewer targets, two fewer receptions, and 14 fewer yards per game this year.
Fellow receiver Jahan Dotson also praised Barkley’s skills as a leader on offense in the locker room.
“When someone produces, they have a voice, and he does a great job of saying the right thing when the right thing needs to be said,” Dotson said. “He hits the spot. He keeps it short, simple, but he hits the spot. And that’s what you want. A leader. He might not look at himself as a leader, but he’s really a leader on this team, especially on this offense.”
Be sure to listen to the full episode, which includes more on Barkley taking on the “enforcer” role and more stories from teammates about the difference he’s made both on and off the field.