The Eagles have the scapegoat for Jalen Hurts, AJ Brown, friction and passing issues

PHILADELPHIA – When you hear Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts and wide receiver AJ Brown, there’s one person to blame for the team’s passing woes and the perceived tension between the best friends heading back to college:

Edge rusher Brandon Graham, metaphorically of course.

Not that Graham is the one who has thrown for just 226 total yards in the last two games like Hurts has. Or it went 58 minutes without a single pass being thrown his way, as was the case with Brown. That drought spanned the second half of the Eagles’ game against the Baltimore Ravens on Dec. 1 and almost the entire first half against the Carolina Panthers last Sunday.

But Graham went on SportsRadio 94 WIP on Monday and said that Hurts and Brown were no longer best friends, only to go on the radio again on Tuesday to say that the only time he wanted to watch Brown’s postgame interview on Sunday was Brown was asked what needed to be improved.

Brown’s one-word answer? “Consist.”

On Wednesday, Brown clarified and expanded on his answers. Hurts too.

“BG is just BG,” Brown said of Graham. “He’s emotional. In this case he simply made a mistake. Me and Jalen are good. It’s BG (being yourself). Everyone loves BG. He speaks from the heart. He only reveals his perception of something from the outside.”

“(Everyone) understood what I said about passing and felt like it was an attack on Jalen. And I think that’s what (BG) did.”

Hurts added: “We have spoken. I think in the end BG knows he spoke inappropriately and he knows it.”

However, if you want concrete answers to the problems in the Eagles’ passing game, which ranks 31st in the NFL with an average of just 181 yards per game, then the answers range from “everything” to “nothing.”

From a big-picture perspective: “To go into detail about the last play, it was protection, it was catching a block,” Brown said. “Maybe it was reading Jalen’s page. It may have been because we opened up quicker and were where we needed to be. It’s a question of timing.”

“That’s not to say the sky is falling with our passing game. But it’s something we’re paying attention to, focusing on and getting better in the moment we have.”

From the Nothing perspective: “Things change when dynamics change, and the dynamics of our team have changed,” Hurts said. “We had a great addition in Saquon Barkley and he was able to make a huge impact on this team.”

“We have always been able to play the ball at a high level. He took it to the next level. This hasn’t changed the main thing. Ultimately, we’re looking at a part of our game that we need to be better at being critical of ourselves and better at it, but we’re still doing what we need to do.”

HAPPENED, NOT FAILED:What Brandon Graham Excuses AJ Brown and Jalen Hurts ‘Gap’ Says About Eagles’ Collapse

NOT HAPPY:While Saquon Barkley sets two Eagles records, AJ Brown masters the passing game in the win over the Panthers

This is of course a win.

In the hustle and bustle, it’s easy to forget that the Eagles (11-2) are riding a nine-game winning streak and that Hurts’ record as a starter is 44-16 since the start of the 2021 season. And that Barkley has already set the Eagles’ franchise record for rushing yards in a season.

Barkley is at 1,623 yards with four games to go. If he maintains his season pace of 125 yards rushing per game, he will break Eric Dickerson’s record of 2,105 yards rushing set in 1984.

During the 9-game winning streak, Hurts surpassed 250 yards rushing just once. Brown and DeVonta Smith have embraced the fact that the Eagles are a run-based offense. But they also get paid well to catch the ball.

And as Hurts put it: “(Brown) knows that I love him very much, just like I love all these guys very much… He wants to win. He damn sure wants the ball, and he wants to make a difference in the game.

Brown leads the NFL with 17.4 yards per reception and is fifth with 83.6 yards per game.

So what’s wrong with the passing game?

Again nothing and everything.

“We had some moments where we were good,” Eagles coach Nick Sirianni said. “We had some moments where we didn’t need it. We had some moments where we weren’t good enough. Again, all of those things are true – moments when we were good, moments when we didn’t need to be at all… and moments where we needed to be better.”

At some point, the Eagles need to improve their passing game.

It might have to happen Sunday against the Steelers (10-3), who rank fourth in the NFL in run defense and allow just 91.5 yards per game. Conversely, Pittsburgh is 17th against the pass.

If not against the Steelers, then maybe in the playoffs.

“I know there will be times when that moment comes,” Hurts said. “It’s important to be prepared when the time comes. To do this, we build self-confidence. That is what we strive for. If you get it done, no one cares how you get it done.”

“You have demands, but when did winning not become the most important thing? We all want to play at a high level, but we want to win. That’s the most important thing.”

It’s more important than what Graham — a 15-year veteran who should know better — has publicly speculated about the passing game and the perceived tension between Hurts and Brown.

“We try to go out here and do a good job every Sunday,” Brown said. “It’s neither personal nor business. Like I said, BG just talks – and he just keeps talking.”

“It’s whatever.”

Contact Martin Frank at [email protected]. Follow on X @Mfranknfl.

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