A.J. Brown schools Donovan McNabb on sideline scuffle rumor: 'You should know better'
When Philadelphia Eagles wide receiver A.J. Brown and quarterback Jalen Hurts got into a sideline arugment back in Week 1, it was a big story. The teammates were a massively successful duo in 2022, and seeing them go at it in Week 1 brought up concerns that the team might be having chemistry issues.
Nothing more came of that argument, with Brown telling reporters that it wasn't about targets and that he and Hurts and resolved things and moved on. But when the Eagles lost their first game of the season to the New York Jets on Sunday, it was just a matter of time before someone brought it up, even though there were no fights between Brown and Hurts during the game.
That someone was former Eagles franchise quarterback Donovan McNabb.
During an interview on Philly sports talk radio station 94.1 WIP on Tuesday, he mentioned the sideline argument as well as the thoroughly debunked theory that it was about target share.
"It's been so inconsistent each and every week and I go back to before the — I can't say argument or maybe the complaint from A.J. Brown about not being more involved in the offense and getting the ball. I go to that because I've seen it before, I understand it, I know as a quarterback you don't want to be involved in it. But what I'm seeing is, I'm seeing offensive play calls are being more catered to try to feature instead of establishing a tempo and a consistency from running the football, play-action game, quick game to be able to spread the ball around. DeVonta Smith, I don't care what nobody say, he ain't getting involved in this offense.
"It goes back to last year, the first year A.J. Brown got there. Maybe in the first four or five games, DeVonta Smith looked like he was the true No. 1 even with A.J. Brown and A.J. Brown started getting more features. Now it seems like we're featuring more of A.J. Brown and pulling away from the true run game. We threw the ball over 40 times in that game, I believe right? In the Jets game. That's not our offense."
Brown saw McNabb's comments on X, formerly known as Twitter, and responded. He wasn't angry, just disappointed that someone who spent 11 of his 13 years in the NFL with the Eagles would make such a casual assumption, especially when it had already been debunked by Brown himself.
With all due respect I will repeat, that conversation was not about targets.Two friends bumped heads about something and moved on and If you feel that way,keep that to yourself because the media is going to hold on to everything you say.Out all of people you should know better. https://t.co/4EPyGWXyix
— AJ Brown (@1kalwaysopen_) October 17, 2023
In Sunday's loss to the Jets, the Eagles threw the ball 45 times compared to 22 runs, despite leading most of the game.
McNabb may have a point there, that the Eagles were forcing the pass while abandoning the run, but Brown wanted to clarify that there is no beef between him and Hurts.
