The Philadelphia Eagles have not had the ending to the regular season that the team had hoped. Some of these issues may be coming from self-inflicted wounds. Heading into Week 18, Eagles starting safety Kevin Byard was candid in discussing “leaks everywhere” from within the team.
“I think playing for this city, you have to really operate in a different way,” Byard told The Philadelphia Inquirer’s E.J. Smith in a January 6, 2024 feature, “From an escape room to broken silence, A.J. Brown tries to ease the Eagles’ mounting tension.” “For example, I come from Tennessee, which is obviously a smaller market, I feel like it was very easy to keep in-house things in-house. It’s very different over here.
“I feel like there’s leaks everywhere … it can be very divisive in a way. It can kind of force players or whoever it may be to almost protect yourself.”
A.J. Brown Regrets His Silence: ‘They Shouldn’t Had to Have to Answer Questions on My Behalf’
AJ Brown says he is not mad at Nick Sirianni. Says Sirianni took the blame in the Seattle game on the “drawing the penalty quote” Says Nick fell on the sword for them #Eagles pic.twitter.com/xHSdsHHULU
— Chris Franklin (@cfranklinnews) January 3, 2024
Some of the tension have centered around star receiver A.J. Brown declining to speak to the media for two straight weeks. Brown broke his silence heading into the regular-season finale. The playmaker revealed that his desire was not to make matters worse by making negative comments. Instead, Brown regrets his silence because he believed it prompted his teammates to have to answer questions.
“I apologized to my teammates today because they shouldn’t had to have to answer questions on my behalf,” Brown told reporters on January 4. “I’m a man [and] I can speak for myself. “I was actually looking forward to seeing one of the reporters here today. Because I wanted to ask him a question. I’m still going to say the question, because he wrote a story and I did read the story. … He said a veteran said something about me and this and that. So, I was going to ask him who is the veteran?”
Kudos to Brown for his lengthy Week 18 media session, but the receiver admitting to reading the stories could be part of the problem. Brown is likely referring to this quote from an anonymous Philly veteran in an interview with The Philadelphia Inquirer’s Marcus Hayes. “Any time you have bad body language from a leader like that, other guys see it, and it’s not good,” the Eagles vet said in a January 1 feature titled, “A.J. Brown and Eagles coaches are embroiled in a feud as the team loses its fourth of five games.”
Eagles Rumors: A.J. Brown Led a Players-Only Meeting Ahead of Week 18
“I appreciate him having the courage to do that in front of the team”
Jalen Hurts reacts to AJ Brown apologizing to the team for not speaking to the media over the last week #Eagles pic.twitter.com/IYRdJqGKEM
— Eliot Shorr-Parks (@EliotShorrParks) January 3, 2024
It is hard to argue with Byard’s assessment as it is clear from multiple media stories that some Eagles players are going public with their frustration. These veterans are doing so without having to attach their names to the story as anonymous sources. Fox Sports’ Jay Glazer reported that Brown led a players-only meeting in Week 18 encouraging the team to back the coaching staff. The Eagles acquired Byard in a deal ahead of the October 31 trade deadline. Byard has 66 tackles, 3 pass deflections and an interception in nine appearances with Philadelphia going into Week 18.
