Eagles' A.J. Brown Addresses Rumored Jalen Hurts Drama, Clarifies 'Passing' Remark

Philadelphia Eagles star wide receiver A.J. Brown called out the team's struggles in the passing game after Sunday's 22-16 win over the Carolina Panthers, saying it wasn't good enough and "it won't help us."

On Wednesday, however, he clarified that his comments weren't specifically directed toward quarterback Jalen Hurts but rather the entire passing operation:

Brown also emphasized that his relationship with Hurts is just fine after defensive end Brandon Graham suggested publicly that the two's friendship has suffered this season (comments the veteran defensive end later apologized for making).

"BG was just being BG. He's emotional. And in that case he just misspoke. Me and Jalen are good," he told reporters. "It's BG. Everybody loves BG, he's speaking from the heart, just giving his perception, from the outside."

Like Brown, Hurts told reporters on Wednesday that everything was all good:

The Eagles, despite being 11-2 on the season, have not been without some drama this season. Much of it was focused on head coach Nick Sirianni, who came into the season on the hot seat after last year's collapse and didn't earn much confidence after a 2-2 start.

But since a Week 5 bye, the Eagles have rattled off nine straight wins on the back of a fantastic defense and the NFL's best rushing attack (190.5 YPG), led by superstar Saquon Barkley and the mobile Hurts.

The passing game, however, has been a disappointment. The Eagles rank 31st in passing yards per game (180.6 YPG) this season despite having fantastic weapons in Brown, Barkley, DeVonta Smith and Dallas Goedert.

Injuries at various points of the season to Brown, Smith and Goedert hasn't helped. But Hurts has also looked less comfortable in the pocket and slower to go through his progressions than in years past.

One theory for why is that after struggling with turnovers both last season (20 in total) and to start the 2024 campaign (four interceptions in the first three games), Hurts has thrown just one pick in the past 10 contests. It's clear that he's made a major effort to playing a safer brand of ball aimed at limiting bad mistakes, though perhaps at the expense of giving his receivers a chance to make plays.

And it wasn't just Brown who was frustrated with the struggling pass offense after the win over Carolina.

"I think we can do a lot better," Smith told reporters. "Pass game we can be a lot better... We didn't play up to our standard."

If the Eagles improve as a passing offense, they'll arguably be the NFL's most balanced team. For now, however, there is plenty of room to grow through the air.