A.J. Brown keeps finding new ways to shine for Eagles

Brown continued to roll in the Eagles' win over the Rams

By Reuben Frank, Eagles Insider • Published October 9, 202

 

A.J. Brown says Jalen Hurts will always get the football to whoever has the hot hand.

"That’s one thing about Jalen, if you’ve got the hot hand, he’s gonna feed you,” Brown said Sunday.

Lately, Brown has had the hot hand every week.

Brown continued his record-setting stretch Sunday with six catches for 127 yards in the Eagles’ 23-14 win over the Rams at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, Calif.

He’s had 131, 175 and 127 yards in his last three games, respectively, making him the first Eagle ever with 125 yards three straight weeks. Harold Jackson had three straight games over 125 yards over the 1971 and 1972 seasons, but nobody had done it within one year.

And his 433 yards against the Buccaneers, Commanders and Rams are the most yards by any Eagle in a three-game span in 71 years – since Bud Grant (yes, that Bud Grant) had 445 the last three games of the 1952 season (which happened to be the last three games of his brief NFL career). Grant went on to play in the CFL and coached the Vikings for 19 years, reaching four Super Bowls (and winning none).

The chemistry Brown and Hurts have is truly insane. 

"It’s very encouraging, man, because we’re always striving to be better each and every day we're pushing each other,” Brown said. "We really have high expectations of each other.”

Brown is up to 4th in the NFL with 541 receiving yards, trailing only Tyreek Hill (651), Puka Nacua (572) and Justin Jefferson (571). And those 541 yards are 3rd-most in Eagles history through Week 5, behind Mike Quick’s 595 yards in 1983 and T.O.’s 556 during his suspension-curtailed 2005 season.

Brown seems to turn in a signature play every week, and against the Rams it was his ridiculous 38-yard one-handed snag just before halftime.

"Messing around in walk through, I try to catch every ball in one hand,” Brown said with a laugh. "I don't try to do it in the game. That's not what I'm trying to do at all. But this past Friday I got in trouble because there were too many balls on the ground. I dropped like three balls trying to catch the ball in one hand in practice.”

On a 3^rd-and-1 with 17 seconds left before halftime and the Eagles on their own 34 trailing 14-10, Brown got a step on Rams corner Derion Kendrick down the seam and extended his left arm to snag a dart from Hurts. 

"You know, I didn't even know I had the ball in my hand when I caught the ball,” Brown said.

The 38-yard catch-and-run was the Eagles’ longest play on a 3^rd-and-1 since a 66-yard LeSean McCoy TD run in the fourth quarter of a win against the Giants at the Linc in 2009.

Brown caught the ball at midfield and then twisted his way another 22 yards down to the 28. A horse-collar personal foul on Kendrick gave the Eagles the ball at the 14, and after a DPI on Kendrick covering Brown moved the ball to the 1, Hurts scored to give the Eagles the lead for good just before halftime.

"I don't like that play cause I wanted to catch that," Brown said of the DPI. "I was mad at myself that I kinda let him pull me down. I want the ball if I can. I never want to the PI. But we got down there and, and Jalen scored (so) I'm OK with that, too."

And it completely altered the feel of the game. 

 "The momentum definitely changed,” Brown said. "We went up at halftime and then the defense came out doing their thing. So it was definitely huge and it changed the momentum of the whole entire game.”

With his 36-yard catch in the fourth quarter, Brown surpassed 5,000 career yards, and by doing so in his 65^th career game, he became the 10^th-fastest player to 5,000 yards in NFL history.

"Just to hear that, it means the world,” Brown said. "Because that means I'm doing what I’m supposed to be doing. I'm on the right track. I'm going to put my head down and keep working.”

https://www.nbcsportsphiladelphia.com/nfl/philadelphia-eagles/eagles-receiver-aj-brown-keeps-finding-new-ways-to-shine-during-record-setting-run/539970/

Squeaky wheel got the oil but he's also playing great so that's ok I guess.