Fraying AJ Brown-Jalen Hurts relationship hinted at by Brandon Graham

12/09/2024 09:07 PM

When AJ Brown openly called out the Philadelphia Eagles’ passing game after the team secured their ninth-straight win of the season, it left fans with one central question: was the All-Pro wide receiver calling out Jalen Hurts?

Now granted, Hurts isn’t calling the offensive plays and would probably like to throw the ball more than 20 times a game with some spicy concepts drawn up to get him easy yardage, but surely Brown, a long-time friend of QB1, has to understand that, right? Hurts wouldn’t actively be trying to diminish his stat line or cost him money down the line, instead operating within the confines of the offense to help secure the win no matter what.

Well, when asked about the theoretical beef, Brandon Graham added some very real fuel to the fire on his WIP show, noting that there might be some legitimate issues between the two friends that could be leading to these on-field issues.

“The person that’s complaining needs to be accountable. I’m just being honest. You know, I don’t know the whole story, but I know that 1 is trying, and 11 could be a little better with how he responds to things. And they was friends before this. It’s like man, but things have changed, and I understand that because life happens. But we’ve gotta, it’s the business side that we have to make sure that we don’t let the personal get in the way of the business,” Graham told reporters.

“And that’s where we gotta do better as right now, because we know it’s an issue. Everybody’s seen some things but we need to be able to talk things out as men, you know what I’m saying? But we need to let personal stuff go, and let’s get right for this game because, man, most of the time, it’s just a conversation that needs to be had, but the person with the problem has gotta wanna talk to the person, other than others, that’s all I’m saying.”

Yikes, that is not the sort of unity message most fans were expecting from the long-time Eagles captain and locker room leader. While only time will tell if this ends up being something, nothing, or everything – please, Nick Sirianni, feed Brown and DeVonta Smith in Week 15 – right now, it certainly feels like something, which isn’t ideal for an 11-2 team with Super Bowl aspirations.

Jalen Hurts has already addressed AJ Brown’s frustrations publically

Asked about Brown’s comments after the game on Sunday, Hurts admitted that he can’t necessarily solve anything because there isn’t a specific problem. All he can do is focus on continued growth on the offensive side of the ball and hope that everyone comes together around winning.

“It isn’t about solving anything. Everybody has a reason to want more,” Hurts told reporters. “It’s a fair desire of being in fullness to where we can be because we’ve done it before. Just got to build, got to progress. Have to find a way to come together and come and synch as a unit and play complimentary ball.”

Is Hurts’ assertion the correct one? Should the team be looking to play complementary ball, where group accomplishments are considered more important than individual stats? That’s certainly the strategy Nick Sirianni has looked to employ with his “joy” movement. But Brown has already demanded a trade from one location because he didn’t like how he was used, so there is a precedent there for Philly to keep a close eye on this situation and treat it appropriately, as losing the Mississippi product would undoubtedly make the team worse regardless of what they get back in return.

"I know 1 is trying and 11 could be better with how he responds to things. They were friends, but things have changed."

Brandon Graham gives insight to the AJ Brown/Jalen Hurts drama: pic.twitter.com/RcouHPGK43

— SPORTSRADIO 94WIP (@SportsRadioWIP) December 9, 2024

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