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A.J. Brown had nothing to say — to reporters after the Philadelphia Eagles’ playoff loss to the San Francisco 49ers, that’s.
Philadelphia’s star receiver did have loads to say to educate Nick Sirianni — and vice-versa — throughout a sideline spat late within the second quarter of the sport that finally marked an finish to the Eagles’ try at defending their Tremendous Bowl title from final season.
Huge winds blew via Philadelphia’s Lincoln Monetary Area all through the sport, presumably contributing to a tough outing for Brown, who caught three of the seven passes for 25 yards and tied a profession excessive with two dropped passes.
A kind of drops got here on Third-and-9 with a bit of greater than two minutes remaining within the first half. Brown had created some separation from 49ers cornerback Renardo Inexperienced deep alongside the appropriate sideline, however the cross from quarterback Jalen Hurts bounced off the receiver’s fingers.
Brown was sluggish to get off the sector following the play, prompting Sirianni to run yelling down the sideline and finally confront the three-time Professional Bowl choice face-to-face. The boys appeared to trade phrases for a couple of seconds earlier than being separated by Eagles chief safety officer Dom DiSandro. Brown went on to take away his helmet and yell extra in Sirianni’s path.
Whereas Brown didn’t communicate to reporters after the 23-19 loss, Sirianni downplayed the incident throughout his postgame information convention.
“I used to be making an attempt to get him off the sector as a result of we have been about to punt, and that was actually it,” Sirianni stated. “I really like A.J. I believe he is aware of how I really feel about him. I’ve a particular relationship with him. We in all probability went via each emotion you possibly can presumably have collectively.
“We’ve laughed collectively, we’ve cried collectively, we’ve yelled at one another. We’re each emotional. I used to be making an attempt to get him off the sector — you realize, that occurs on this sport.”
Brown’s different drop got here on a third-and-5 from the Philadelphia 40 with a bit of greater than two minutes remaining within the fourth quarter and the Eagles trailing by 4. Brown was open over the center for what might have been a simple first down, however the cross once more bounced off his arms. Philadelphia transformed the fourth down on a cross to tight finish Dallas Goedert, however the last-gasp drive finally stalled on the San Francisco 21.
Sirianni stated of Brown: “He’s received the most effective arms I’ve ever seen, you realize, the way in which he catches the ball, the quantity of various kinds of catches that he’s made. While you get as many targets as he does, you’re going to have some drops. Not ever utilizing it as an excuse, however the ball strikes otherwise within the wind.
“I assumed Jalen did job of chopping the wind quite a lot of instances. However, yeah, we had some uncharacteristic drops. I believe the one which [Brown] had, we overcame it the very subsequent play with Dallas, however I do know [Brown will] beat himself up on that. And I do know A.J. — he’ll catch 9,000 balls with the one drop that he had.”
Brown received off to a sluggish begin this season and wasn’t shy about voicing his frustrations. His manufacturing elevated because the yr went on, and Brown completed the season with 78 catches for 1,003 yards and 7 touchdowns.
Total, the Eagles’ offense declined underneath first-year coordinator Kevin Patullo, dropping from seventh in scoring and eighth in yards final yr to nineteenth in scoring and twenty fourth in yards this season. Requested Sunday about Patullo’s general efficiency, Sirianni stated there “can be time to guage everyone’s efficiency.”
“Proper now, I really feel for all our guys within the locker room, all of the gamers, all of the coaches, the entrance workplace, everyone that works so arduous, the followers that come out and help us, Mr. [team owner Jeffrey] Lurie. I really feel for all of us, all of them, and there’ll be time to guage all the pieces developing.”
The Related Press contributed to this report.
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