Julio Jones’ NFL dominance inspired A.J. Brown to stick it out at receiver. Now both are Eagles.

Early on in his athletic career at Starkville (Miss.) High School, wide receiver A.J. Brown wasn’t all that fond of football. In fact, he described himself as “scared” of the physicality of the sport, and gravitated to baseball instead.

Everything changed for Brown when he started watching then-Atlanta Falcons wide receiver Julio Jones.

At the time, Jones was in his prime with the Falcons, earning All-Pro and Pro Bowl honors in 2015 when he led the league with 136 receptions for 1,871 receiving yards. The yardage total was a Falcons franchise record and the third-most in NFL history, the crown jewel of one of the greatest seasons ever played at the position.

“Watching him play the position kind of just made me be like, ‘Hey, I could do that,’” Brown said Friday. “He really inspired me.”

Eight years after admiring Jones from afar, Brown gets to appreciate Jones up-close for a second time as a teammate. The two were together with the Tennessee Titans in 2021, and Jones reunited with Brown when he was signed to the Eagles’ practice squad Tuesday.

Brown knew for about a week leading up to his signing that the transaction was in the works. With Jones on the practice field as of Wednesday, Brown is confident that the young Eagles receivers can learn a thing or two from the 34-year-old, just as he did.

“I feel like he might be one of the best receivers to ever play the game,” Brown said. “So, if you don’t listen to him, you’re stupid. I’m just going to call it what it is. Guys are going to look up to him. He has a lot of knowledge, man. He’s great people.”

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Jones may have a lot of knowledge, but he hasn’t barged into the locker room offering advice to players who don’t ask for it. He said he wants to be there for his new teammates if they seek out his input and opinions, which are rooted in 12 years of NFL experience.

Even though they’re new teammates on the Eagles, they’re not all new teammates to Jones. He played with Brown on the Titans, Olamide Zaccheaus on the Falcons, and he has crossed paths and trained with DeVonta Smith, who also played at Alabama. That sense of familiarity makes it easy for the group to broach any topic with each other.

“It’s just a normal conversation, because we’re all like brothers,” Jones said. “We know each other, we’ve known each other, right? I used to go to Alabama and talk to Smitty, and playing with A.J., and things like that. We just bounce things off each other.”

Brown ranks Jones as the second-best receiver to ever play in the league, just behind Jerry Rice and ahead of Calvin Johnson, Larry Fitzgerald, and Antonio Brown. But even though Jones may not be the same player now that he was in his prime, Brown is confident that he can contribute to the Eagles in his own unique way.

“His ability, still, to separate and to run and catch the ball is going to help us out tremendously,” Brown said. “But I think from the vet standpoint, I was a vet, I was like the oldest vet in the room. So now when you’ve got somebody who’s a Hall of Fame receiver, can really just tell you anything and everything.”

Across the NFL over the next two weeks, players will represent their cultural origins on the field when they wear international flag decals on their helmets as part of the NFL heritage program.

Participants in the program can opt to wear the flag of an international country or territory where their relatives were born or where they’ve lived for more than two years. Tanner McKee, who has been designated the Eagles’ emergency third quarterback, will represent Brazil, where he served a mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints for two years starting in 2018, hitting pause on his football career and delaying his start at Stanford.

McKee, who learned to speak and read Portuguese while living in Curitiba, Brazil, said he still feels a strong connection with the country, the culture, and its people.

“I’m super lucky,” McKee said. “Because now with social media and WhatsApp and Instagram, you can keep in contact with a lot of people. Me and my wife actually want to go back hopefully next year and visit some touristy spots, but also visit some people that I stayed with and got to know. So definitely feel very proud of the Brazilian culture. I try to keep my Portuguese up, try to listen to podcasts and things in Portuguese just to keep it up.”

Punt returner and wide receiver Britain Covey will represent Chile, where he also served a Latter-day Saints mission for two years, missing his 2016 and 2017 seasons at Utah as a result.

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Additionally, tight end Albert Okwuegbunam (Nigeria), safety Sydney Brown (Canada), quarterback Marcus Mariota (American Samoa), Zaccheaus (Nigeria), offensive lineman Sua Opeta (American Samoa), left tackle Jordan Mailata (Australia, Samoa), defensive tackle Marlon Tuipulotu (Tonga), defensive tackle Moro Ojomo (Nigeria), and inside linebacker Christian Elliss (Samoa) will participate in the program.

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The Eagles host the Miami Dolphins on Sunday. Join Eagles beat reporters Olivia Reiner and EJ Smith as they dissect the hottest storylines surrounding the team on Gameday Central, live from Lincoln Financial Field.