Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts downplayed his heated exchange with A.J. Brown during the team’s win Thursday over the Minnesota Vikings, adding that the receiver was disgruntled with his lack of involvement.
“I think everybody wants to make plays, and everybody wants to contribute,” Hurts said, according to ESPN’s Tim McManus. “I have no worry about him. He’s a great player, a great teammate, a great friend, and we’ll do anything and everything to win.”
With the passing attack struggling, a frustrated Brown approached Hurts at the start of the fourth quarter. After the two stars exchanged words for a few seconds, Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni intervened to calm Brown down.
Brown left Lincoln Financial Field Thursday without speaking to reporters.
Sirianni said he was unaware of what happened when initially asked about the incident. However, the coach refused to elaborate on the exchange after reporters told him he was seen on TV diffusing the situation.
“The conversations we have on the field are going to be private,” Sirianni said. “And the conversations we have in our locker room are going to be private. Y’all don’t need to know what was going on right there.”
After producing a career-high 1,496 yards in his first season with Philadelphia in 2022, Brown has only 11 catches for 108 yards and zero touchdowns through two games. He recorded four catches for 29 yards on six targets against Minnesota and had a 25-yard touchdown in the fourth quarter called back Thursday due to a penalty.
Hurts has only thrown for 363 yards and two touchdowns this season. Philadelphia relied heavily on its ground game Thursday, with running back D’Andre Swift producing a career-high 175 yards and one score.
DeVonta Smith has been Hurts’ only pass-catcher producing at a similar level to last season, racking up four catches for 131 yards and a touchdown in the win over the Vikings to take his season total to 178 yards and two scores.
Center Jason Kelce, one of the team’s veteran leaders, was pleased to see Hurts and Brown working out their differences.
“You want guys talking,” Kelce said. “I think actually it’s worse when guys aren’t talking. The fact that they were having an exchange at all is a positive.
“We all have very high expectations. We know that we’re really good, and we know that we should be playing better than we are, so those discussions are going to happen, and the frustration is going to happen.”
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