Eagles’ A.J. Brown will play vs. Commanders and looks forward to facing CB Marshon Lattimore

A.J. Brown didn’t want to go into much detail regarding the knee injury that likely happened during practice and popped up on Thursday’s Eagles injury report and made him a limited participant Thursday and Friday.

He did, however, leave no doubt about his status for Sunday: “I’m playing,” he said.

The Eagles will face Washington for their final road game on Sunday with a chance to wrap up the NFC East. It comes a week after the passing attack got back in rhythm during a win over the Pittsburgh Steelers, and five weeks after the Eagles used a fourth-quarter Saquon Barkley surge to beat a Commanders team they’re trying to topple again on Sunday.

During that 26-18 win on Nov. 14, Jalen Hurts went 18-for-28 for 221 yards with Brown and DeVonta Smith combining for nine catches and just 94 yards. Washington’s pass defense, already one of the top units in the NFL, has gotten reinforcements since then. The Commanders traded for Saints cornerback Marshon Lattimore, who was dealing with a hamstring injury and made his debut last week.

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Lattimore, a four-time Pro Bowl selection, was targeted just twice by the Eagles during their Week 3 win in New Orleans. He returned to face his former team last week, and the Saints didn’t throw his way in 35 coverage snaps, according to Next Gen Stats. On the season, Lattimore has been targeted just 14 times in eight games and he’s allowed only eight catches for 83 yards and zero touchdowns, according to Pro Football Focus.

The Commanders have dreams of Lattimore being the cure to stopping Brown, who has more receiving yards vs. Washington than any other Commanders opponent since joining the Eagles in 2022. Brown is a player the upstart Commanders are going to have to contend with for the foreseeable future.

Brown and Lattimore battled a few times before they played on their current teams. Most recently, in the 2022 season, Brown had four catches for 97 yards in a 20-10 Eagles loss to New Orleans in a game that Gardner Minshew started. Brown scored a 78-yard touchdown that was not against Lattimore. The final result of that game was sealed when Lattimore jumped one of Brown’s routes with the Eagles on their 12-yard line. Lattimore intercepted the ball and trotted into the end zone.

“He’s a great corner,” Brown said. “I’m always excited to go against really good corners just for the opportunity, for the sport, honestly. They have a young corner over there [Mike Sainristil] and he’s a good corner, too. We’re excited. They’ve got good corners and we’ve got good wideouts and they’re going to compete hard and so are we.”

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There will be a chess match of sorts Sunday. A few Eagles said after the first meeting that the Commanders showed them a lot of un-scouted looks on defense.

“We had time to dive into what they did the first game and try to dissect that and of course I think they may spin some things a little different and so are we,” Brown said. “That’s the beauty of playing guys twice a year. They know us and we know them.”

There are added stakes for Sunday’s game. The Eagles could clinch the NFC East with a win. A loss would keep Washington’s slim hopes alive. The Eagles are also chasing the No. 1 seed in the conference.

That chase will be made easier with a healthy Brown, who appeared to suffer an ankle injury during Sunday’s game. Then came the knee injury during the week.

“I was fine after the game, fine the next day, fine the day after that,” Brown said. “It just kind of comes with the game, I guess, over a period of time, stuff like that starts to happen. You find a way to get through it and play through stuff. Nobody is healthy. It is what it is.”

Asked if the injury was a product of the intensity of Eagles practices this season, Brown smiled and said “no comment. You’re trying to get me in trouble with Nick.

“Yes, our Thursday practice is too long,” he continued. “I’m just going to tell you. Oh my gosh. It’s too long. It takes what it takes.”

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Edge rusher Bryce Huff remains out as he works his way back from surgery to repair a torn ligament in his wrist. The Eagles will also be without wide receiver Britain Covey due to a neck injury.

In addition to Brown being limited, left guard Landon Dickerson (knee, rest) was also limited. Like Brown, Dickerson also carries no game designation into Sunday, meaning he will play.

Safety Sydney Brown (concussion) was listed as a full participant but is questionable for Sunday.

The Eagles play in Week 16 against the Washington Commanders. Join Eagles beat reporters Olivia Reiner and EJ Smith as they dissect the hottest storylines surrounding the team on Gameday Central, live from Northwest Stadium.