A.J. Brown didn’t like his lack of targets vs. the Cowboys but was still ‘controlling the game’

A.J. Brown said over the summer that he was the best receiver in football, so it’s easy to imagine how he felt during the Eagles’ nationally televised season opener against the Dallas Cowboys when he went three quarters without a pass thrown to him.

“I may not like it,” Brown said Wednesday. “But it’s something I had to deal with.”

Brown’s only catch — “the most important play of the game,” quarterback Jalen Hurts said — came with 1 minute, 51 seconds left in the fourth quarter. The 8-yard completion on second-and-11 allowed Hurts to scramble a play later for a first down that sealed a 24-20 win. Brown finished the game with one catch on one target for 8 yards. It was the first regular-season game in Brown’s career in which he played an entire game and received just one target.

“I kept trying to tell myself that it’s not about me,” Brown said. “Stayed locked in, stayed ready, stayed in the game, stayed in the moment. One of my processes is I tell myself on the sideline to make sure I give my all on this drive. Don’t worry about the past, good or bad. I know I wasn’t getting the ball, but I just made sure I was staying locked in on each and every drive.”

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Nick Sirianni praised Brown’s “mental toughness” for making a big play despite not seeing action all night.

“You look for moments like that to really show and preach the stuff that’s important to your core values and your culture,” Sirianni said Tuesday. “That was just a great example by one of our captains of, ‘Hey, it didn’t go exactly the way you wanted it to go, or any of us envisioned it going, that’s life, that’s football, but when called upon and the ball did come your way, you made this huge play.’”

Brown said during training camp that he wanted to “put a stamp on” his belief that he’s the NFL’s best receiver. But he also said “I have to put my team first.” So he took solace in attracting enough attention of the defense to allow Jahan Dotson to be in one-on-one coverage for a 51-yard grab in the second quarter. And Sirianni pointed out the importance of Brown’s block on Saquon Barkley’s touchdown run to cap that drive.

“If I get one catch, obviously, everyone is going to say I’m not the best,” Brown said. “But I’m still controlling the game. I’m impacting the game without even touching it. Obviously, that’s tough because you want to touch the ball, but I’m still helping my teammates to get open.”

Kevin Patullo, the Eagles’ first-year offensive coordinator, said the team entered the game with a “fair share” of plays that featured Brown as the primary target. But sometimes, Patullo said, the game plays out differently.

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“We don’t ever want to force it,” Patullo said Tuesday. “If it’s one of those games where you’re trying not to force it and you’re being productive and you’re staying on track, the guys understand. He played his butt off, too. He knew what was going on and just the way it was, and then we were moving the ball and being efficient.

“I think when you look at it, you always put that in mind when you start the game plan. Like this week, ‘Hey, he’s the guy, this is where we want to go with it.’ Once the game starts to unfold, you just kind of play it accordingly.”

Two seasons ago, Brown had 29 yards on six targets against Minnesota before receiving 14 targets the next week vs. Tampa Bay and finishing with 131 yards. Last season, Brown had two games with four targets. He followed both of them the next week with 100-yard games. His lack of targets were quickly forgotten. It would not be a surprise on Sunday if the Eagles emphasize getting Brown involved early, just like they did in the past following a game with low usage. If so, he should be able to look like the best receiver in football.

“There’s no secret about it,” Sirianni said. “We always want to get the ball to [DeVonta Smith] and [Brown], and we’re always trying to, so we will do an even better job as coaches trying to make sure that happens.”