Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni has announced that his club will be without star wideout A.J. Brown for its wild-card round matchup with the Bucs on Monday (via ESPN’s Tim McManus). Brown suffered a knee injury in last week’s regular-season finale against the Giants, and while Sirianni said the three-time Pro Bowler “fought like crazy” in his efforts to heal up in time for the Tampa Bay contest, he was ultimately unable to do so.
Luckily, the injury is not a long-term one, and ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler reports that Brown will be expected to play in the divisional round if Philadelphia should advance. Of course, his absence will make it more difficult for the Eagles to defeat the Bucs, and it exacerbates what has already been an exceedingly trying stretch for the reigning NFC champions.
Since storming out to a 10-1 start to the 2023 campaign, the Eagles lost five of their final six contests to drop them not only out of contention for the No. 1 seed in the conference, but from their place atop the NFC East. During that time, Sirianni made the curious decision to hand defensive play-calling duties to Matt Patricia, which did not move the needle, and Sirianni’s own job security has recently been called into question. If the Eagles’ swoon should culminate in a loss to the Bucs tomorrow, it is at least feasible that owner Jeffrey Lurie will seek an overhaul of the entire coaching staff.
Quarterback Jalen Hurts, who regressed this year after a 2022 season in which he finished second in MVP voting, is dealing with an injured middle finger on his throwing hand, so he could be somewhat limited as he throws to a diminished WR corps. Though the Eagles still boast high-end skill position talent in the form of players like DeVonta Smith, Dallas Goedert, and D’Andre Swift, there is no replacing Brown in the club’s offensive scheme.
In 2023, Brown recorded a career-high 106 receptions for 1,456 yards and seven TDs. And while Hurts’ performance generally declined this season, he and Brown continued to be in sync, as Brown’s 67.1% catch percentage was the highest mark of his career (though Brown’s 13.7 yards-per-catch rate was the lowest of his five-year NFL run, which helps to explain the elevated catch percentage).
Last week’s game against New York was not meaningless, as the Eagles still could have won their division and secured a home playoff game if they had defeated the Giants and if the Cowboys had lost to, or tied with, the Commanders. However, the odds of the moribund Washington outfit putting up much of a fight against Dallas were quite long, so Sirianni’s decision to play his starters has been heavily scrutinized (especially in the wake of Brown’s injury). The third-year HC stood by his call, however.
“We went through it, like you guys asked me before, ‘why did we do it,’” Sirianni said (via Zach Berman of PHLY). “Not knowing what the game was, you know, wanting to put a good output on there. I know that those things didn’t – neither of those things happened. But no. Obviously, you can look back on anything. At that time, I did what I thought was best for the team, and I’ll stick by that. And so, I don’t regret — am I upset that A.J. is not playing because he got dinged in that game? Of course, I am. But no, I don’t second guess that decision.”
Playbook has been feeble all season. Gonna be a long off season in Phillie.
It’s spelled Philly clown. A Phille is a member of the baseball team the Phillies.
That was yesterdays news bro
Hahaha yes the word was already out on tbe street.
Plus his social media account was scrubbed of Eagles
So no Willis Reed trotting out of that locker room…load management, protecting the brand.
Sorry a meaningless game … those young coaches oh brother… Dan Campbell same thing and Sam Laporta hurt… these players need a break after a long season…
after this weekend no one will remember last week, but if Lions or Eagles lose …check out the Chiefs , did they rest their starters, 49’ers , you betcha they did.
Miami did it during a blowout loss too. They definitely missed Chubb yesterday.
49ers had already clinched number 1 seed in nfc, Chiefs clinched AFC west. Ravens clinched AFC number 1 seed, all other teams had reason to play to make playoffs or seeding.
49ers, Chiefs, Ravens were fortunate to get that week to rest players.
Philly needed a lot though, it was a very long shot. Cowboys were not resting against Washington team. Lions needed both Cowboys and Philly to lose it wasn’t likely.
I agree all long shots but most teams will play and hope things drop the right way.
Agreed. When Brown got hurt, the Dallas-Washington game was still close, so I don’t fault Sirianni. Winning the division was an important goal as long as it was possible, though it hasn’t worked out well for Dallas thus far today.
Bucs win 31-23
Is Baker playing?
He has played every game, they don’t like Trask. They didn’t even put him in for the blow out wins vs GB & Jags.
He didn’t play in any blow out losses either.
I know he is dealing with some injuries was why mainly wondering. I’m sure they will find a way to get him out there.
Yes
Garbage attitude these days, by playoff time everyone is playing banged up. He won’t play tonight but if you win I’ll definitely be there in a few days. GTFOH. Almost zero chance of winning w/o him, even dinged up he’s better than the other WRs getting his reps.