A.J. Brown is fed up with Eagles fans blaming him: ‘Tired of y’all playing with my character’
The receiver was targeted on the game-sealing interception vs. the Seahawks.
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Jalen Hurts threw the game-sealing interception on an attempted deep ball to A.J. Brown. The Birds were down just three points and needed a field goal to tie the Seahawks on Monday night.
Many fans — and former players like Chris Long — questioned why Hurts forced a deep ball to Brown, especially when a second look at the play design showed that Kenneth Gainwell was open for a checkdown. Hurts already had missed a wide-open DeVonta Smith on a checkdown earlier in the drive to target Brown, and the pass fell incomplete.
Brown took to social media to confront fans who thought he was forcing Hurts to throw in his direction instead of taking the easy completion to Smith.
“Y’all fans swear y’all know everything,” Brown wrote on X, formerly Twitter. “It’s a shot play to me. I’m the first read. He just missed the throw. Of course we could’ve threw it 6 because it didn’t work but when the [obscenity] works everyone is happy. Quit all that buddy ball [obscenity]. I am decoys on many plays.”
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Earlier in the year, Brown earned scrutiny for a sideline conversation that made some fans, including former Eagle Donovan McNabb, believe he was demanding more targets.
Brown posted a tweet criticizing fans who “want a dog but get mad at him for hunting,” but later that week denied that he and longtime friend Hurts had clashed over his target share.
That wasn’t the only time this season Brown has been the subject of social media speculation. Over the last two weeks, anonymous quotes circulated about the Eagles’ offense being too predictable, and many pointed the finger at Brown, who denied those claims.
Now, after Hurts’ contested deep ball to Brown led to an interception and the Birds’ third straight loss, Brown is once again frustrated with how he’s treated by outsiders when things go wrong.
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“And all that he forcing me the ball [obscenity] to,” Brown wrote. “I’m in his head [obscenity]. When I make plays, everyone happy, but when it’s incomplete it’s I’m making him throw me the ball. I get blame for more [obscenity] than anything. Tired of yall playing with my character.”
Brown finished the game against the Seahawks with five catches for 56 yards on 10 targets, while Smith finished with five catches for 50 yards on just five targets.