February 07, 2026

Eagles WR A.J. Brown said what about Kevin Patullo?

Appearing on Micah Parsons' live podcast, A.J. Brown said fired Eagles OC Kevin Patullo "did a tremendous job," while Parsons said trade talks about him coming to Philly were legit.

By Geoff Mosher
PhillyVoice Staff

Colleen Claggett/for PhillyVoice

Is A.J. Brown actually looking forward to returning to the Eagles in 2026?

Eagles wide receiver A.J. Brown hasn't spoken to Philly media in months.

It's been widely assumed the frustrated star wideout who argued with Eagles coach Nick Sirianni on the sideline during the playoffs and has made strong public comments in each of the past two seasons about the shortcoming of the Eagles' passing offense is unhappy, wants out, and is likely to be traded this offseason.

Brown appeared recently with Panthers quarterback Bryce Young on Packers edge Micah Parson's popular podcast "The Edge With Micah Parsons" before a live audience in San Francisco leading up to Sunday's Super Bowl LX and touched on his relationship with the organization, how he felt about fired offensive Kevin Patullo and other Eagles-related topics.

Perhaps the most surprising response came from Parsons asking if the three-time Pro Bowl receiver felt excited about the Eagles' new offensive coaching staff – the Birds have hired a new offensive coordinator, pass game coordinator and TE coach/run game designer while saying parting ways with other offensive assistants – and from Brown defending Patullo.

"Yeah, I'm always excited. Sometimes change is not a bad thing," said Brown, whose 1,003 receiving yards in 2025 were his fewest as an Eagle. "I have the utmost respect for KP. To me, he did a tremendous job, and he has a great heart, but I'm excited for the season, excited for what's to come."

OK, much to unpack there.

First, Brown expressing optimism about the Eagles' offense in 2026 goes against the perception that he wants out. But it's also important to note that if Brown wants to be traded, it doesn't help the organization move him and get desired value if he appears disgruntled and dead set on never again playing for the Birds.

Second, Brown saying that Patullo did a "tremendous" job when the Eagles, despite all their talent, ranked 24th in total offense can be interpreted two ways – that he had a good enough rapport with Patullo and didn't want to back the bus over his fired former coach, or that he's taking a veiled shot at quarterback Jalen Hurts, which is how some of his past public criticisms of the passing offense have been interpreted.

At locker clean-out following the Eagles' 23-19 loss to the Niners in the Wild Card game, Hurts said he and Brown had spoken and were in a "great place." So there's that.

Interestingly, Parsons didn't ask Brown about his relationship with Hurts. Bad job by the podcast host. He's much better at his main job, sacking quarterbacks.

Earlier in the podcast, Parsons did ask a journalist-worthy question when he wondered to Brown how the defending Super Bowl champion Eagles could have all that talent and not be playing Sunday in Super Bowl LX.

Brown talked about losing to the Niners and said, "I know me personally I'm excited to get into this lab and get better myself each and every day and to grow. but I don't know. Things happen. Not everything is going to go your way. That's life. You learn to accept that."

Brown later said, "As an offense, we just come back and just really watch tape and, like I said earlier, rediscover ourselves and go to work each and every We have great leadership in our locker room and I'm fortunate to be part of it on offense. We do have a lot of talent, but talent gets us nowhere. It's all about being detailed and disciplined."

Again, these comments suggest that Brown expects to be with the Eagles in 2026. But also again, if he'd rather be elsewhere, it wouldn't help him or the team if Brown publicly kicked dirt on the organization.

There is some irony to a relaxed, introspective Brown in a public setting showing optimism and encouragement during a turbulent time for the Eagles, who this past week had to deal with renowned offensive line coach Jeff Stoutland deciding to step away from coaching the line after 13 seasons and thanking Philadelphia fans in a video on his social media account but not the organization.

This is an interesting time to be a Philly sports fan.

Brown actually proved to be a better investigative journalist, at one point asking Parsons about wanting to be an Eagle before he was traded from the Cowboys to the Packers before the season – one of the biggest storylines of the 2025 season.

The question led to a bombshell revelation from Parsons.

"Yo, we could get into that, hold on. To be honest with you, bro, it was very close. Eagles – before Jaelen Phillips, before all of them, it was me," Parsons said, essentially confirming reports from the season that the Eagles tried to acquire the five-time Pro Bowl EDGE.

"I was really about to come, but there was one person that I had to play with that if he was gone I did not want to be there, and that was [Eagles iDL] Jalen Carter. [The Cowboys] wanted a d-tackle and they wanted to trade me plus some picks. I'm coming to play next to JC. Sorry, Cowboys fans ... it really almost happened. I feel like the trajectory would have changed."

Hysterically, Young, the Panthers' QB, interjected, saying "On behalf of all the quarterbacks in the league, I am very happy that did not happen."