Eagles Rumors: A.J. Brown Told Players to 'Start Trusting Our Coaches' Before Finale

The Philadelphia Eagles reached the Super Bowl last season, started the 2023 campaign 10-1 and have absolutely folded since, limping into Monday night's Wild Card Round matchup against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers with a 1-5 record to close the regular season.

There's been plenty of blame to go around, but wide receiver A.J. Brown reportedly isn't pointing fingers at the coaching staff.

According to ESPN's Tim McManus, "Team sources confirmed Brown spoke during a meeting leading into the Jan. 7 game against the Giants, delivering the message that the players have to 'start trusting our coaches' and what they call on game day."

The Birds shockingly lost that game 27-10, however.

The team's late-season slide has called into question whether Sirianni is—or should be—on the hot seat despite a 34-17 record in his three seasons that includes three playoff berths and a trip to the Super Bowl last year.

Publicly, however, Eagles' players have continued to support the head coach.

"Yes. Why would you say that?" left tackle Jordan Mailata told reporters following a stunning Week 17 loss to the Arizona Cardinals after he was asked if the locker room still supported Sirianni. "It's the NFL. It's any given Sunday. We got our teeth punched in today because we went out there and we thought they were going to be a pushover? No. No, Nick has not lost the locker room. I'm going to end it there because that last question just pissed me off."

Both internally and externally, however, questions have arisen about the direction of the offense and defense, to the point that defensive coordinator Sean Desai lost play-calling responsibilities in favor of Matt Patricia.

On the offensive side, meanwhile, McManus reported that "some offensive players don't know for sure who is calling the plays and when," with Sirianni sometimes vetoing play calls from offensive coordinator Brian Johnson.

He also reported that quarterback Jalen Hurts has questioned the approach of the offense:

"In the early stages of the Eagles' skid, Hurts was hoping the direction of the offense would change, the source familiar with Hurts' thinking said. He believed they were overly reliant on vertical routes and not utilizing short-to-intermediate throws, particularly over the middle of the field, where Brown has thrived in his career. In short, the belief was there was too much flash over substance—a sentiment others on the offensive side of the ball shared." "

Even Brown's production waned down the stretch. While he still finished the season as the team's leader in receptions (106), receiving yards (1,456) and was tied with DeVonta Smith for the team lead in receiving touchdowns (seven), he didn't have a receiving score in the final six games of the year and only hit 100 receiving yards once in that stretch.

At one point in the season he recorded six straight games with at least 100 receiving yards, and that level of productivity simply wasn't present late in the final weeks. Not surprisingly, it coincided with the team's overall struggles.

The Eagles will have to figure things out on Monday night without Brown, who will miss the matchup with the Bucs due to a knee injury. If the Eagles lose that contest in embarrassing fashion it's very possible that Sirianni's job could be in very real peril, despite what Brown might have said in players-only meetings.