Nick Sirianni expresses his excitement about A.J. Brown’s eventual return

A tale of two bye weeks… Has anyone noticed how much calmer the week off this year has been from the bye in 2024? Last time around, the Philadelphia Eagles stumbled into the break following a blowout loss and a 2-2 record.  This time around, they’re the owners of a two-game winning streak and feeling pretty good after an early revenge game. The Birds washed the sins of a blowout loss versus the New York Giants in Jersey with a more acceptable arse kicking delivered at home.

Head coach Nick Sirianni, as he often does during the regular season, called in to speak with 94 WIP-FM’s Morning Team on Tuesday. Joe DeCamara asked a direct question. ‘What’s going on with A.J. Brown?’  Now, if you listen to WIP, you understand what DeCamara’s intention was, continuing an overworked conversation about whether or not A.J. Brown is a bad teammate. To his credit, Coach Sirianni sidestepped that angle to discuss one more important. When might we see Brown back in the Eagles’ lineup?

“What I think you’re referring to is, a couple of weeks ago… That was a couple of weeks ago. It’s been business as usual. (I’m) really excited to get him back on the field. I almost forgot about what happened a couple of weeks ago. He’s just working on ways to get better. I know he wants to do everything he can do to get back out there. We’re excited to get him back. You can only judge things based off your interactions in our building, and A.J. has been great in the building. I’m always in communication with all (of) our guys, obviously A.J. as well. (I’m) looking forward to when he can get back, and I know he wants to get back out there and help us win football games.”

Brown sat outWeek 8, and while that’s typically noticeable, Philadelphia’s offense shone. Now, they were playing the Giants, so that isn’t saying much. Still, the Birds can only play the games on their schedule. This is also a nice statement. The Eagles were down Brown and Cam Jurgens, and still won convincingly.  Make no mistake, though. The NFC is a better conference than it was last season, so if the Eagles want a deep playoff run, they need Number 11 on the field and contributing.

Perhaps Eagles Chairman/CEO Jeffrey Lurie said it best. “There’s no conflict, just intensity.” The Birds are going to need it. The schedule gets tougher as the temperature gets colder. Yessir. Philadelphia is going to need some of the A.J. Brown emotion.  It has been a noisy season. Sure, some of that is Brown’s fault, but there’s no need to revisit here. We’re aware of how this works.  Every time his team has needed him and gotten him involved, he’s flourished. That’s because his devotion to his team is undying, and whether you believe it or not, the feeling has long been mutual.