Get ready for a squeaky-wheel game against the Bucs from A.J. Brown, who will benefit from DeVonta Smith’s star turn

A.J. Brown needs to watch some tape.

Of the Tennessee Titans.

He thinks he has it bad? Try watching 60 minutes of Ryan Tannehill monster-mashing around the pocket and then foisting the ball to the sideline as he disappears under a pile of defenders. That was more or less the extent of the Titans’ 27-3 loss at Cleveland on Sunday. Brown’s former team finished the game with a whopping 94 yards of total offense. It’s just the fourth team in the last decade to fail to crack the century mark in yardage. Tannehill was sacked five times. DeAndre Hopkins led the team with three catches for 48 yards.

Life is all about perspective, right? Brown may not be thrilled that DeVonta Smith has replaced him as Jalen Hurts’ go-to receiver, but it’s better than being out-targeted by the watercooler. Besides, his light workload is actually a testament to his dominance. Last season, Brown established himself as a superstar when he caught 88 passes for 1,496 yards and 11 touchdowns. This year, he is getting the superstar treatment.

That’s what we saw last Thursday, when cameras caught Brown engaged in a heated conversation involving Hurts and eventually Smith and Nick Sirianni at the end of the third quarter. At the time, Brown had three targets and three receptions for 17 yards. It probably wasn’t as big of a deal as it became. Part of the blame falls on the awkward manner in which Sirianni declined to discuss the matter after the game. Part of it might fall on Brown’s tinted-out face shield, which obscured his face and left his countenance open to the imagination. Chances are, this was little more than an expressive conversation that often happens among teammates, friends, coworkers, etc., who exist in the same comfort zone and possess the same desire.

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“So, Thursday, with that little sideline discussion, I want you all to know that’s what it was,” Brown told reporters last week in his first comments on the matter. “It was a discussion. This is a game we both love and I want everybody to understand that sometimes emotions run high and that’s kind of what happened, too.”

It happens to the best of them. Especially.

The Bengals’ Ja’Marr Chase finished his first two games with 10 catches for 70 yards and no touchdowns. Last season, the Vikings’ Justin Jefferson had four games when he saw four or fewer targets and totaled fewer than 40 yards. Buffalo’s Stefon Diggs had four games with six or fewer targets. Dallas’ CeeDee Lamb opened 2022 with nine catches for 104 yards in his first two games. Just last week, the Patriots held the Dolphins’ Tyreek Hill to five catches and 40 yards. Those are the five other receivers who belong in Brown’s class. As the focal point of opposing defensive coordinators, a certain amount of frustration is inevitable.

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The difference with Brown is that he plays alongside a borderline elite receiver. No disrespect to Jaylen Waddle and Tee Higgins. They are very good at what they do. But they aren’t Smith, who might have the best combination of hands, route-running ability and body control in the game. Imagine if Brown and Diggs played together. Smith is much closer to that than a lot of people realize.

Just look at the numbers. In Smith’s last 13 games — two this year, three last postseason, eight last regular season — he has 75 catches for 1,090 yards and seven touchdowns. That’s a 17-game pace of 98 catches, 1,425 yards, nine touchdowns. Nobody should be surprised if Smith’s final line ends up in that neighborhood, either.

Nobody should be upset, either. Especially Brown. There’s plenty of meat on the bone in an NFL offense to feed two hungry dogs. What goes around. Success on one side of the field breeds success on the other. In 1998, Randy Moss and Cris Carter combined to catch 29 touchdowns for a Vikings team that went 15-1. In 2000, Moss had 1,437 yards and Carter had 1,274. Back in 1995, the Lions actually made the playoffs thanks to Herman Moore catching 123 passes for 1,686 yards and Brett Perriman catching 108 for 1,488.

Brown’s current situation is much better than the inverse. Just ask Calvin Johnson or A.J. Green or Davante Adams or any of a number of the game’s greatest wide receivers who never experienced a level of team success to match their prodigious individual talent.

“You want my honest answer?,” Brown said last week. “It’s about who gets hot and who stays hot. That’s who we feed off. When it rains, it pours. When it starts coming, look out. That’s my mindset.”

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It’s the right mindset to have. Brown knows how good he has it. The Titans aren’t the only team where he’d be withering on the vine. Try walking a mile in Jahan Dotson’s cleats. The Commanders’ hyper-talented second-year receiver just watched his quarterback complete twice as many passes to the other team as he got himself. Drake London caught two passes from Desmond Ridder in the Falcons’ 20-6 loss to the Lions. The Jets’ Garrett Wilson is currently trapped in Zach Wilson hell.

Brown? The action will come. The numbers will come with it. The Buccaneers have already allowed Jefferson and D.J. Moore to go over 100 yards receiving this year. They allowed London to do so in last year’s regular-season finale.

Brown has a big game in store. The squeaky wheel always gets the grease, as does the all-world wide receiver. He handled the Week 2 drama as well as he could have. Now, it’s time to get back to business.

The Eagles visit the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Monday night. Join Eagles beat reporters Olivia Reiner and EJ Smith as they dissect the hottest story lines surrounding the team on Gameday Central, live from Tampa, Fla.