Eagles Support A.J. Brown, Don't View His Comments As A Distraction
PHILADELPHIA – Nick Sirianni said he didn’t think the never-ending drama around the outspoken and highly-critical A.J. Brown was a distraction. Yet, Thursday rolled around and, 72 hours before kicking off in what will be the latest in a season-long string of difficult challenges when they host the Detroit Lions, players were still taking questions about Brown.
His teammates aren’t publicly saying that Brown is wrong for going public with his complaints about an offense and a coordinator in Kevin Patullo that can’t find a way to get him the ball on a consistent basis. In other words, they got his back.
“As his teammate, I can understand his frustrations,” said left tackle Jordan Mailata, “but for me, I’m just gonna stay in my lane as an offensive lineman, like, OK, if we’re not giving the ball to him, OK, how can I affect that? Am I going to just go to KP (offensive coordinator Kevin Patullo) and tell him to get the ball to AJ?
“That doesn’t help anything. That doesn’t come up with a solution. So, for me saying, I agree AJ, get him the ball. I’d be the 15th person in the building doing the same thing. All I can do is make him feel supported.”
Saquon Barkley Can Relate to What A.J. Brown Is Saying
Mailata rightly pointed out that it’s not an A.J. problem but it’s an everybody on offense problem.
“I don’t think AJ’s wrong, you know?” he said. “That’s the way he feels, that’s the way he feels. I just think there is truth to it. I play on the offense as well, and we get in a rut so many times in games. ...Sometimes, and I can speak on this now because I’ve played in this league a long time now, but that’s just how ball goes sometimes. That’s just how it is.”
Brown is the only speaking out about it, whether that’s right or wrong. Or whether it will be a distraction.
This is what Saquon Barkley said: “We know we gotta improve, and that’s the mindset. Whether we score 10 or we score 40, AJ is not saying anything wrong – we’re always looking for room to improve.”
Mailata again: “We talk about contribution over credit. That’s one of the big sayings in the past couple months, so I think that’s where AJ’s coming from.”
Steelers' Defensive Leader Shockingly Downplays Struggles Against Bengals Ahead of Crucial, High-Stakes Showdown
Immediately after losing in Week 7, Pittsburgh Steelers linebacker Patrick Queen lamented the defeat pretty strongly. But while speaking to reporters Monday, Queen took a softer approach with a first-place showdown up next.
“It’s the NFL. Sometimes it happens even though you don’t want it to,” said Queen, via TribLive.com’s Chris Adamski. “Sometimes, it’s ugly, but at the end of the day, it’s the NFL.
“They get paid to play. Their coaches get paid to coach. We just gotta make the plays, go out there and execute better.”
While fans could see Queen’s comments as a more positive spin on what happened last week, a couple Steelers pundits referred to the Steelers defensive signal-caller as downplaying the team’s defensive struggles against the Cincinnati Bengals.
Patrick Queen downplayed that the Steelers defense is feeling frustrated or down on themselves after Thursday’s defeat
Reaction to Patrick Queen’s Latest Comments on Steelers Defense
The common phrase, “It is what it is,” might best summarize the reaction Queen had Monday on the team’s Week 7 defensive performance.
That type of phrase is reserved for situations that are out of a person’s control. For that reason, it’s possible Queen will rub some fans the wrong way with his Monday reaction to Week 7.
It’s also not like the Steelers have been elite defense this season and just had a bad night in Cincinnati.
“If Thursday was the Steelers’ first poor defensive performance of the year, it would be a lot easier to flush it and chalk it up to life in the NFL,” wrote Steelers Depot’s Joe Clark. “But the reality is the defense has been bad more than it’s been good.
“The Steelers have allowed 30 points in three of their six games this season, they’ve struggled against the run, and when they aren’t getting pressure, teams have thrown all over them.”
Queen’s reaction would probably also be more acceptable for some pundits if the Steelers had a young or inexperienced defense. But the team has decorated veterans all over the unit.
Queen and his defensive teammates are paid as such too. According to Spotrac, the Steelers are spending the most amount of salary cap space on their defense in the league this season.
That’s a big reason why there was so much disappointment expressed in the media over the Steelers’ Week 7 defense.
Steelers Moving Forward to Face Green Bay Packers
In Queen’s defense, how he and the team played Thursday is now out of his control. All he and his teammates can do now is be better going forward.
The linebacker took more accountability in other answers to the media to begin this week.
“I don’t think we were physical enough,” Queen said. “I don’t think we was expecting them to run. Because the whole ranking and all this and that, like hey, they’ll run the ball this amount of times, whatever.
“So, I think we got pretty complacent with thinking they wasn’t gonna run a lot.
“Definitely can’t have that, definitely gotta get better at that.”
The Steelers will be aiming to bounce back against the first-placed Green Bay Packers. The Packers will visit Acrisure Stadium on
