Eagles' A.J. Brown Says Donovan McNabb 'Should Know Better' over Jalen Hurts Comments

Former Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Donovan McNabb said during a radio appearance Tuesday on WIP that the Philly offense hasn't been as successful and has seemed to try to force-feed the ball to A.J. Brown after his sideline spat with Jalen Hurts in Week 2.

Brown had his own thoughts on the matter:

Here were McNabb's broader comments on Tuesday:

"It's been so inconsistent each and every week and I go back to before the—I can't say argument or maybe the complaint from A.J. Brown about not being more involved in the offense and getting the ball. I go to that because I've seen it before, I understand it, I know as a quarterback you don't want to be involved in it. But what I'm seeing is, I'm seeing offensive play calls are being more catered to try to feature instead of establishing a tempo and a consistency from running the football, play action game, quick game to be able to spread the ball around. DeVonta Smith, I don't care what nobody say, he ain't getting involved in this offense."

"It goes back to last year, the first year A.J. Brown got there. Maybe in the first four or five games, DeVonta Smith looked like he was the true number even with A.J. Brown and A.J. Brown started getting more features. Now it seems like we're featuring more of A.J. Brown and pulling away from the true run game. We threw the ball over 40 times in that game, I believe right? In the Jets game. That's not our offense."

McNabb seemed to be referencing his time with Terrell Owens when discussing the Brown-Hurts dynamic, a partnership that started well and famously blew up in dramatic fashion.

Brown, meanwhile, has maintained this his sideline dust-up with Hurts wasn't about target share.

"Also, I want y'all to know, no, it was not about targets," he told reporters in September. "I'm sure that everybody thought that because he threw me the ball three plays in a row afterwards. But no, I was not over there discussing targets or whatever the case might be. It was something that happened earlier and we were having a discussion about it. So I know everybody took that out of context, but it's not a big deal."

Since the Vikings game, Brown has caught 31 passes for 564 yards and two touchdowns on 44 targets, a cool 11 targets per game. He's been cooking, and it's clear the Eagles have made it a priority to get him more looks.

That doesn't necessarily have anything to do with that sideline spat—Brown is one of the best wideouts in football. Getting your top playmakers a healthy dose of touches is an obvious path to success.

Whether that has come at a greater offensive balance and more success is harder to say.

The Eagles are 5-1, second in yards per contest (395) and fifth in points per contest (25.8). But playmakers like DeVonta Smith (28 catches for 334 yards and two scores) and Dallas Goedert (26 receptions for 247 yards and a touchdown) have offered less consistent production.

Either way, Brown has had quite enough of the "demanding targets" angle to his sideline discussion with Hurts.