The reigning NFC champion Philadelphia Eagles do not appear as formidable as they were last year. But even despite their occasionally uneven struggles — like in a loss to the New York Jets last Sunday — that doesn’t mean there’s any trouble in paradise between their stars.
In a recent interview with SportsRadio 94WIP, former Eagles quarterback Donovan McNabb — who took the team to five NFC title game berths in the 2000s — insinuated that he thinks there is a rift brewing between Philadelphia players. In particular, he centered on star receiver A.J. Brown, who had a strange sideline argument with quarterback Jalen Hurts earlier this year.
Using his past experience with the notoriously dramatic Terrell Owens, McNabb stated he thought Brown was arguing with Hurts about not getting the ball enough:
McNabb:
"I go back to before the complaint from A.J. Brown…I've seen it before, I understand it, I know as a QB you don't want to be involved in it.
"Play calls are being more catered to try to feature instead of establishing a tempo and…spreading the ball around." 😳 pic.twitter.com/mVohm5OFQT
— SPORTSRADIO 94WIP (@SportsRadioWIP) October 17, 2023
Just a couple of hours later, A.J. Brown caught wind of McNabb’s comments, describing said tiff as “two friends bumping heads” that was blown up into something it wasn’t. More importantly, he took polite exception to McNabb indirectly feeding a false narrative about him being just like Owens — perhaps the most notorious diva receiver in NFL history:
With all due respect I will repeat, that conversation was not about targets.Two friends bumped heads about something and moved on and If you feel that way,keep that to yourself because the media is going to hold on to everything you say.Out all of people you should know better. https://t.co/4EPyGWXyix
— AJ Brown (@1kalwaysopen_) October 17, 2023
This whole sequence is a good lesson for all of us. Just because two stars like Brown and Hurts are arguing on the sideline doesn’t automatically mean they don’t like each other. It doesn’t automatically mean one player is troubled by their role on the team or offense. Sometimes, it’s just teammates working something out that the cameras happen to catch because they’re in one of the most public spaces — a live NFL game — in modern America. Nothing more. Think about all the times you’ve argued with loved ones or friends only to make up later. Now imagine if someone turned that into a sign you were permanently disconnected from them. How would that feel?
Plus, McNabb’s argument about Brown doesn’t even make sense. The All-Pro receiver has 60 targets in six games. That would, yes, put him on pace for 170 (more than 145 in 2022), but it’s not egregious. That is simply how you treat a No. 1 receiver. And it’s not like Hurts is ignoring Philadelphia’s other top weapons in DeVonta Smith (45 targets) and Dallas Goedert (36 targets). The disparity in Philadelphia’s receiving lineup is completely fine.
McNabb does have a right to speak from personal experience as an unofficial Eagles ombudsman. But comparing Brown to Owens — a player who infamously took shots at teammates in interviews (including McNabb) and made himself a sideshow during an unceremonious Philadelphia exit in 2005 — is entirely unwarranted.
McNabb should really know better than to project his own ludicrous football life on two completely unrelated people.