Retired Eagles Hall of Famer Donovan McNabb opens up about how A.J. Brown and the decline of the Eagles offense after their disappointing 22-19 loss to the Los Angeles Chargers.
On Wednesday’s episode of “Sportsradio 94WIP,” he highlighted the problems on the offense, including Brown’s complaints of not being targeted by Jalen Hurts more often this season. He then said that this has limited the effectiveness of the Eagles’ other wide receiver, DeVonta Smith.
“Everything )(went wrong),” McNabb said. “You know, to me, it does, it goes back to the conversation I had when we first started with, and I don’t mean to bring this down on AJ or point it out or anything of that nature, but as the conversation kind of led after he made his tweets and encrypted, you know, conversations or whatever it may be, the whole offense shifted into a whole new, different realm.
“Now we taking shots downfield. DeVonta was catching deeper balls. We were going across the middle. We were doing a lot of different things. But ever since that conversation came up of why he’s not gettting the ball, the offense now shifted more towards AJ, and really, DeVonta is, like missing.
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“I feel bad for him because I’ve always stressed and I’ve talked about it for weeks that he’s our number one receiver. A.J. Brown is our guy to get us over the hump. And Dallas Goedert is the most important piece to this passing game because he becomes so much of a threat when most linebackers who can’t cover, who are in there to stop the run, we don’t even throw to him, or at least target them in the middle of the football field.”
Against the Chargers, A.J. Brown had 100 receiving yards on six receptions and 13 targets. Jalen Hurts put up one of the worst performances of the season, completing 21-40 passes for 240 yards, four interceptions and five turnovers.
Despite this loss, the Eagles still lead the NFC East with an 8-5 record and a three-game losing streak.
A.J. Brown gets real about Jalen Hurts’ disappointing showcase during loss to the Chargers
After Monday’s loss, A.J. Brown was asked to share his thoughts on the issues with Jalen Hurts and how he’s been plagued by a turnover problem.
Despite the alleged rift between them, Brown defended his quarterback and took partial responsibility for the team’s underwhelming offensive performance.
“I think all of us has our hand in that pocket,” A.J. Brown said. “We are trying to get better. Obviously as a quarterback he’s going to get a lot of stuff for it, but we in this together. Like I said, today, that one (interception) across the middle, I’m more than capable of making that catch.
“You can’t put that on him. He was under pressure and it ain’t gonna be perfect. It was a tough game, it was a tough opponent, it was a tough night. We’re just trying to do whatever we can to get the job done.”
This season, A.J. Brown has tallied 799 yards and six touchdowns receiving on 62 receptions.