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Sep 21, 2025; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; Philadelphia Eagles wide receiver AJ. Brown (11) walks off the field after win against the Los Angeles Rams at Lincoln Financial Field. Eric Hartline-Imagn Images

Killing Conservatism: Eagles' A.J. Brown Sends A Message On And Off The Field

Originally posted on Philadelphia Eagles on SI
By John McMullen | Last updated Sep 22, 2025 12:29 PM ET

The world of groupthink lives in a comfort only a bubble could provide.

The idea that any big-time receiver in the NFL could be anything more than the hackneyed stereotypical diva is foreign to many in that community, where context and the more layered realities of the human condition are foreign concepts.

Eagles’ All-Pro receiver A.J. Brown highlighted how smart and savvy a football player he is after Philadelphia’s heart-stopping 33-27 win over the Los Angeles Rams on Sunday.

And it had nothing to do with the 6 reception, 109-yard, 1 touchdown day where Brown served as the man among a Rams secondary field with boys.

The outcome was in doubt for the Eagles until Jordan Davis swatted a 44-yard Joshua Karty game-winning field goal attempt and raced back at an 18.59 miles per hour clip for a walk-off touchdown as a frenzied Lincoln Financial Field erupted with a combination of relief and jubilation.

Brown used that camouflage of thrill and emotion to deliver a needed message to the coaching staff.

The Eagles’ offense had reached a tipping point in a dismal first half before the urgency of circumstance, in this case, a 19-point deficit, demanded action.

The Philadelphia offense had gotten too conservative.

“Me, personally, I truly believe, man, we got so many good players on this team, and at times you can feel like we’re being conservative, and I don't think it should be like that.” Brown said. “I think it should [be] let your killers do they thing, and play fast and play aggressive."

The Eagles used a scaled-back approach last season that relied on the game's best offensive line and NFL Offensive Player of the Year Saquon Barkley all the way to a Super Bowl LIX championship.

The impetus for that was turning it over too much in the first four games of the season. Since then, Philadelphia has won 19 of 20 games overall and 17 consecutive when Jalen Hurts starts and finishes the game.

Through a 3-0 start this season, however, the Eagles have been living on the edge, relying on dropped passes by stars like CeeDee Lamb and Travis Kelce, or Davis' Sunday heroics to limp across the finish line.

Take The Training Wheels Off

It's time to nip that in the bud.

“Obviously, we're gonna run the ball and we're gonna set up the run off the pass and the pass off the run," Brown said. "But we have a lot of good players, and I feel like you should just let us go. It shouldn't be like that [too conservative.]”

It certainly doesn't have to be like that, as showcased by a 38-yard go route to Brown, a 33-yard seam for a Dallas Goedert TD, and a 4th-and-4 dagger to Devonta Smith in a make-or-break moment.

The Eagles have too much talent to be playing station-to-station baseball.

Whether Brown’s message is heard is to be determined.

What can be said is that Nick Sirianni already understands what he has in Brown as an employee and a teammate.

“I think one thing is that you don't have to live your life as a football team, the way people think you should respond,” the Eagles coach said. “I watched A.J. Brown handle all your questions as a great teammate and with grace.

“Obviously, he wants the football. Obviously, he needs to get the football. To do the things that we want to do, he's got to have the season that he's had the last couple years, the last three years when he has been second-team All-Pro and went over a thousand yards every time. That's the nature of the position."

Leave it to the one-dimensional diva to highlight what needs to be done while still engaging in the heavy lifting, while everyone else catches up.

"... I'm just really proud of how he's handled a slow start as far as stat-wise, but he's doing the right things without it in his hands to help us find ways to win football games, and today we needed it with the ball in his hands,” Sirianni said.

This article first appeared on Philadelphia Eagles on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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