The A.J. Brown-Jalen Hurts incident didn’t have to be a big deal. The Eagles’ lies made it one.
The best way to look at Brown v. Hurts is like this: It’s something, but it doesn’t have to be everything. They can yell at each other, get heated, and get past it.
First thoughts and final thoughts on the Eagles’ 34-28 victory Thursday over the Vikings …
Nick Sirianni and DeVonta Smith are usually cordial, accommodating, and (mostly) honest in their interactions with the media who cover the Eagles. So it was surprising, and a little ridiculous, that they tried to insult everyone’s intelligence by pretending that A.J. Brown’s sideline shoutfest never happened.
The whole Amazon-watching world had seen Brown and Jalen Hurts getting into it early in the fourth quarter. And when Hurts seemed to go out of his way to throw two deep passes toward Brown shortly thereafter — at a time when the Eagles had a two-score lead and were controlling the game by running the ball — it was natural to think that Brown had balked about a lack of touches. But Sirianni and Smith, at first, went full Leslie Nielsen in The Naked Gun: Please disperse. Nothing to see here. Who you gonna trust: those TV cameras or your lying eyes?
» READ MORE: Philly native D’Andre Swift saves the Eagles — and Jalen Hurts — upon his return home
When asked about the Brown-Hurts incident, Sirianni — who quite literally walked over to the players and interjected during the exchange — first said, “I don’t know. I didn’t see what was going on with that. We were just trying to manage the game.” Smith echoed him: “Don’t know what you’re talking about.” Meanwhile, Brown left before any reporters were allowed to enter the Eagles’ locker room after the game, even though hanging around to answer a few questions might have helped defuse the situation.
The first rule of damage control is, you do not talk about damage control. The second rule of damage control is, YOU DO NOT TALK ABOUT DAMAGE CONTROL.
Both Sirianni and Smith eventually came around to acknowledging the obvious: that Brown, whom Hurts targeted six times but who caught just four passes for 29 yards, was a tad perturbed that the ball wasn’t coming his way more frequently.
“That’s part of being a competitor, man,” Smith said. “You always want to feel like you’re part of the team. Anytime something like that’s going on, it’s not nothing bad. He’s not bashing nobody, man. He just wants to be part of the team, wants to help us. At the end of the day, you grind with these guys all throughout the week. When it’s time to go out there on Sunday, Monday, Thursday, whatever it is, man, you just want to battle with your guys.”
The best way to look at Brown v. Hurts is like this: It’s something, but it doesn’t have to be everything. “We all have a very high expectation,” center Jason Kelce said. “We know that we’re really good. We know we should be playing better than we are. So those discussions are going to happen.” More, Brown and Hurts are close friends — genuinely close friends, not close friends in the Donovan McNabb-Terrell Owens, “We’re tight as long as you’re nice to me and throw the ball to me on every play” sense. They can yell at each other, get heated, and get past it.
» READ MORE: Eagles address A.J. Brown’s heated exchange with Jalen Hurts: ‘Everybody wants to make plays’
Which is exactly what Brown should do: Get past it. He plays a position known for its divas, but Brown hasn’t been one, not throughout his NFL career, not in his 22 games with the Eagles. It’s much too early in this season, any season, for him to fall into that stereotype now.
— To see D’Andre Swift’s willingness to absorb punishment between the tackles is to understand why the Eagles were OK with letting Miles Sanders sign somewhere else (the Carolina Panthers, as it turned out) in free agency. Sanders was fine here and had his best season last year, but his habit of bouncing outside on so many of his runs frustrated his coaches and teammates and could be maddening to watch. Swift has no such hesitation about cutting hard and cutting inside for the sake of gaining yards. The question is whether and how long he can stay healthy and productive running that way.
» READ MORE: Eagles OC Brian Johnson gets booed but leans on D’Andre Swift and learns to run the damn ball
— OK, hear me out: Standing ovation for Brian Johnson.
— It is worth noting that, despite the lengthy personal and professional relationship between Hurts and Johnson, Johnson’s promotion to offensive coordinator marked a resumption of the pattern that used to define Hurts’ college and pro career. Remember when people pointed out that he’d had a new play-caller every year until Shane Steichen stuck around from 2021 to 2022? Well, Hurts has a new play-caller this year, and the results so far have been … eh.