September 17, 2024
Colleen Claggett/for PhillyVoice
A.J. Brown #11 of the Philadelphia Eagles runs during practice at the NovaCare Complex in Philadelphia, Pa. on July 24, 2024.
Would the Eagles have won on Monday night if A.J. Brown hadn't quietly hurt his hamstring during practice this week?
It's impossible to know. It's like asking whether the Eagles would have beaten the Falcons if Saquon Barkley hadn't dropped the late fourth-quarter pass that cost them a first down. Or if the secondary hadn't been torched thanks to a very lackluster defensive scheme from new defensive coordinator Vic Fangio. Or if Nick Sirianni had elected to kick a field goal early in the game instead of a failed 4th-and-3 conversion try.
But the answer is probably yes.
Last week in Brazil, Brown had 119 yards and a score in the win against the Packers. His big elusive body is hard to miss and hard to cover. In his first two seasons in Philly, Brown set records in receiving, with 1,496 yards in 2022 and 1,456 yards in 2023. He combined to score 18 touchdowns. He also played in every single regular season game.
The trickle-down effect from the Eagles' offense missing its best player was apparent. Britain Covey had six catches for 23 yards (3.8 yards per catch) and was the third-leading receiver in the game. Jalen Hurts had just 183 yards through the air without his favorite target.
“Obviously, he's one of the best receivers in the league," Hurts said of Brown after the 22-21 loss to Atlanta. "Of course he's definitely missed, but it doesn't change the trust that I have in everybody else to step up. I think we had, you know, guys step up in a big way. Covey made some great plays out there. [DeVonta Smith] made plays. We just didn't meet the moment in terms of it wasn't for us tonight.”
Smith saw 10 targets and caught seven balls for 76 yards and a touchdown. But that's standard for him. The former first-rounder and Heisman winner will play a huge role next week in New Orleans, as Brown is expected to miss more time. At least if you believe the ESPN broadcast. Head coach Nick Sirianni was slow to confirm.
"We'll see. We'll see," he said. "I don't know that yet. You know I won't give you that information yet because I don't know. We’ll see how that goes."
Will the Eagles find a way to adjust to not having Brown?
Jahan Dotson — who was acquired in a trade just for this reason — had one target in the game. Dallas Goedert only had four opportunities and caught three passes. Someone else needs to step up and make plays through the air for Hurts. Otherwise, a one-dimensional offense that relies on the ground game could be a failing strategy against a New Orleans team that scored 91 points in its first two games.
"You change the game plan around," Sirianni said. "You still want to attack them a certain way, but now you're going to use different players in how you attack them. So obviously A.J. being down, he's one of the best players in the NFL, so you're going to miss him."
"We struggled on offense was more so in the red zone," he continued. "We moved the ball well. So, it was those struggles in the red zone we’ve got to get corrected, because you’ve got to score points down there. Sometimes it was like you guys have said, I went for it in those scenarios; sometimes we stopped ourselves."
Field goals are up across the NFL this season but Sirianni knows that's not how to win football games. Especially against the Saints. We'll have to see how the offense adjusts with some early adversity in front of it.
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