What's the Eagles' plan without A.J. Brown in playoff game?

[time2rock]

What's the Eagles' plan without A.J. Brown in playoff game?

The Eagles will be without A.J. Brown on Monday night against the Bucs -- so what's their plan?

By Dave Zangaro • Published January 14, 2024

 

Eagles wide receiver Quez Watkins received a text message from Jalen Hurts last Thursday.

"When that phone rings, be ready to answer,” Hurts texted.

Watkins responded, "S—, I’ve been ready.”

And then in Week 18, without DeVonta Smith in the lineup, Watkins had his best game of the season. He caught 8 passes for 93 yards and a touchdown. Although the Eagles lost in embarrassing fashion to the Giants, Watkins said his performance gave him a big boost of confidence.

Maybe that’s one small positive from that game last week. Because the Eagles are likely going to need Watkins again in the wild card round.

While Smith is going to play on Monday night, A.J. Brown (knee) was officially ruled out for the playoff opener. And it’s going to take several Eagles on offense to replace the production the production they’re losing without their Pro Bowl receiver on the field.

"I think that's been a big-time strength — or one of our big strengths as a team — is the pass catchers we have,” head coach Nick Sirianni said. "And when you look at it, you think about A.J., you think about Dallas, you think about [WR] DeVonta (Smith). And then you think about D’Andre (Swift) and the role that he has, as well. And I’m not even mentioning Julio (Jones) and those guys, and Quez (Watkins) and OZ (Olamide Zaccheaus), who've made plays throughout the year, as well, so excited for those guys to get a little bit more opportunity.

"Obviously, you always miss the contributions that A.J. makes. He's a phenomenal player, but really excited about the opportunity. And I know we’ve got – one reason we're in this game and in this position is because of the pass catchers we have, in addition to A.J. Brown.”

The Eagles will certainly still rely on Smith and Dallas Goedert in this game. That has always been the plan in the passing offense, which has unapologetically been run through Brown, Smith and Goedert all season.

But at least one other receiver will likely need to play a bigger role. It could be Watkins, who has had a disappointing season again. It could be Jones, who is a future Hall of Famer beyond his prime. Or it could be Zaccheaus, who made his biggest play on a touchdown catch in Week 3 in Tampa Bay.

"My role is my role,” said Jones, who is the NFL’s active leader in receiving yards. "Whatever it is, I get ready to play every week. I don’t get up for a week or down for a week. It’s the same every week. They do a great job here. We have a great practice schedule. I just go out, whatever reps it is, they take care of us throughout the week to have us ready for the game.”

When the Eagles signed Jones in mid-October, they were 5-1 and went on to win their next five games to post a 10-1 record going into December. Then the wheels came off. The Eagles lost five of six games heading into the playoffs and tumbled to the No. 5 seed.

Jones, 34, said he’s never been a big talker. But he has tried to be a veteran leader by example since joining the team.

"Don’t crack, don’t break, just stay together,” Jones said. "That’s what we’ve got to continue to do. To win games, you’ve got to do it together. No individual can win a game. These are the times where we have to come together and be closer and stay with each other. These are times where we can’t crack. We just have to go out and play our style of football and play together.”

Monday will be Brown’s first missed game since joining the Eagles for the 2022 season. He’s been incredibly durable as an Eagle and has been a back-to-back Pro Bowler with back-to-back seasons with well over 1,400 yards.

And in 16 of 17 games this season, both Brown and Smith started together.

Meanwhile, the Eagles haven’t had a consistent No. 3 receiver all season. There have been games where all three of them have been in that role behind Brown and Smith. Take a look at their numbers from 2023:

Zaccheaus: 17 games, 1 start, 20 targets, 10 catches, 164 yards, 2 TDs

Watkins: 9 games, 5 starts, 21 targets, 15 catches, 142 yards, 1 TD

Jones: 11 games, 4 starts, 19 targets, 11 catches, 74 yards, 3 TDs

"We have confidence in our group,” Zaccheaus said.

Last week, when Watkins caught a touchdown in the fourth quarter of a blowout loss, his touchdown celebration was making a "keep talking” gesture with his hand.

Watkins was asked about that on Saturday. 

"Self explanatory, man,” Watkins said. "I just go out here and play ball. I don’t care what nobody else says. I hear it but at the end of the day, I go and play ball.”

Watkins says he doesn’t care about what people say but he does hear it and he uses it too. In his fourth season, Monday night could be Watkins’ final game as an Eagle, as his contract is about to run out.

He’ll at least have a chance again to prove himself.

"I’ve always got a chip on my back,” Watkins said. "I always feel like I was counted out in a sense. Just go hoop. That’s all I can do.”

https://www.nbcsportsphiladelphia.com/nfl/philadelphia-eagles/whats-the-eagles-plan-without-a-j-brown-in-playoff-game/558343/

[weko]

Throw it deep, QB draw, hand off to a flat footed RB out of the shotgun 7 yards behind the line of scrimmage.  

 

[Eagleblood52]

Just kinda wondering why a lions rookie te can come back using a brace but aj cant…hmmmm…just disappointed..figured hed at least dress and play minimal snaps braced up…but whatever…

 

[Kz!]

20 hours ago, Eagleblood52 said:

Just kinda wondering why a lions rookie te can come back using a brace but aj cant…hmmmm…just disappointed..figured hed at least dress and play minimal snaps braced up…but whatever…

 

Because they are two different people with different degrees of damage to their injured knees?

[birdman#12]

On 1/15/2024 at 6:38 AM, weko said:

Throw it deep, QB draw, hand off to a flat footed RB out of the shotgun 7 yards behind the line of scrimmage.  

 

Also, the WR screens that go nowhere.....