Eagles wide receiver A.J. Brown has made a recent habit of excusing himself from post-game interviews, seemingly out of frustration over the team's struggles. Sunday was no exception, with Brown telling reporters "there's nothing to say" after Philadelphia surrendered a two-score lead to the Cardinals, falling 35-31 to Arizona for their fourth loss in five weeks.
"I'm not about to talk," Brown said when approached after Sunday's defeat. "There's nothing to say."
Asked if he plans to address reporters later this week, Brown shrugged and gave no definitive answer, while noting that his refrain from comment has nothing to do with the local media. His silence has become a routine in recent weeks, reportedly stemming primarily from dissatisfaction with the Eagles' offensive production. But it's especially notable considering the way Philadelphia ended Week 17's loss, with curiously conservative play-calling on a final field-goal drive, just before Arizona's go-ahead touchdown series.
Head coach Nick Sirianni and offensive coordinator Brian Johnson dialed up back-to-back quarterback runs in Arizona territory, tied at 28 with four minutes to go, before settling for a screen pass on third-and-20 set up a go-ahead field goal. Fans were irate with the calls both on social media and in the Eagles' stadium, but Sirianni defended the process behind the decisions after the game.
"I don't think that's conservative there," Sirianni told reporters. "If they're blitzing a bunch of gaps right there, you're running a gap scheme that has a chance to hit big yards. We could've thrown it there, too. ... I think sometimes with the gap scheme, you gotta do some different things to cancel out gaps that they're bringing everything out. That's why we went that way. It didn't work. (And) the screen for third-and-20 ... we gotta get ourselves into range; the wind was blowing into our face a little bit."
Besides that drive, Brown, in particular, seemed underutilized against the Cardinals defense, finishing Sunday's game with just four catches for 53 yards. He's also not the first Eagles wideout to take aim at the offense, with fellow starter DeVonta Smith arguing after Philly's Christmas Day win over the Giants that the team still wasn't meeting its standards.
Plenty of other Eagles veterans skipped post-game media availability Sunday, per CBS Sports' Jeff Kerr, with Jordan Mailata, Brandon Graham, James Bradberry and Kevin Byard among the few to field questions for an extended time. It's just the latest sign that all is not well in Philadelphia, where the Eagles have already clinched a playoff berth but are now out of the NFC East lead and race for the No. 1 seed. The team will finish its 2023 regular season with a rematch against the Giants in Week 18.
