Eagles legend Jason Kelce rips A.J. Brown amid trade rumors

Philadelphia Eagles wide receiver A.J. Brown has been the subject of on-again, off-again trade rumors since this past fall.

Eagles legend and current ESPN personality Jason Kelce previously defended Brown after the 28-year-old repeatedly made it known during this season that he was frustrated over his role as part of a struggling Philadelphia offense. During a Thursday appearance on Philadelphia's SportsRadio 94WIP, Kelce sang somewhat of a different tune while discussing his former teammate.

Jason Kelce: A.J. Brown is sometimes "frustrating to watch"

"How hard is it to play with a player that’s not giving full effort? It’s incredibly frustrating," Kelce explained while speaking about Brown, per Madison Williams of Sports Illustrated. "Any player that’s out there when you’re seeing a teammate not go all out, that’s all you want from your teammates, and that’s all we want as fans. It’s a really hard thing to optically watch, it’s frustrating to watch." 

Most recently, Brown committed multiple drops and was involved in a heated exchange with head coach Nick Sirianni during Philadelphia's 23-19 wild-card playoff loss to the San Francisco 49ers on Jan. 11. Less than a week after that game concluded, Eagles general manager Howie Roseman suggested that he could take calls about Brown's availability before the new league year opens on March 11. 

Jason Kelce: A.J. Brown "clearly" can't do this

"He's just unfortunately a player who allows his internal frustrations to manifest into his play, and it makes him play worse and makes the offense worse, and it makes his energy worse," Kelce added about Brown. "Some guys can block that out, they go out there and just play football. He is clearly not one of those guys."

Also on Thursday morning, ESPN NFL insider Jeremy Fowler reported that "many high-level executives expect the Eagles to entertain trade offers for" Brown. The Buffalo Bills are among the contenders that have been linked with Brown since at least January. 

While things often change quickly in the NFL, it sounds like Kelce views the Eagles trading Brown this offseason as an addition-by-subtraction move for the organization.