Nick Sirianni reiterates his stance on Eagles' A.J. Brown after one catch game
Everyone seems so fixated on Philadelphia Eagles A.J. Brown's performance in the 24-20 win over the Dallas Cowboys, with many forgetting that football is a team sport.
Much was talked about as Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts "struggled" to get the ball into Brown's hands on offense. Brown wasn't targeted until late in the fourth quarter, when he made one reception for eight yards with 1:45 to go in the game.
Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni had to answer yet another question on Brown in his press conference on Monday, where he used the time to tell the media what he said to the team about Brown's demeanor in the face of adversity.
“Okay, the ball hasn't come to me in three quarters.' That might be the first time that's ever happened to him in his career as a football player because he's such a good player and you're always trying to find ways to do that. But he makes a play in a critical moment when his number was called. You look for moments like that to really show and preach the stuff that's important to your core values and your culture. 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 stepped up when it counted the most in Eagles-Cowboys game
Sirianni wasn't kidding when he talked about the crucial moment Brown had in the game. In a time when the offense had zero momentum going into that final drive, facing a second and 11, Hurts was able to put it on the money to Brown. It might have seemed like a routine play, but it was the one that set up the Eagles with a short third down.
On the next play, Hurts would end up scrambling for four yards when he needed three to seal the game. Sirianni understands that it wasn't a game-sealing play, but it was the one that set the team up to win.
"Was it a first down? No, but it set us up to get the first down where it Dallas' offense didn't come back on the field, and you set us up to get that and make this huge play when maybe the ball wasn't going your way all night. That's why A.J.'s special because even in a game like that, he does things without the ball to help us win and he makes a play in a critical moment. Great throw by Jalen and great route and catch by A.J. and made a play in a critical moment to help us win the football game.”
The media can try to push any narrative they want, but it won't work. They tried it last year with the "locker room drama" between Hurts and Brown, but this team is too mentally tough to let that hurt the team's goal of winning another Super Bowl.
Packers’ Colby Wooden Fires Back at Critics After Dominant Run Defense Performance
Micah Parsons, a contrarian opinion had taken hold, too–the Packers defense would get chewed up in the running game.Three days before the Packers were to play the Detroit Lions in their 2025 opener, defensive lineman Colby Wooden got a phone call. It was his father. While much attention had been foisted on the Packers in recent days after the stunning trade for pass-rusher
The Packers had to trade away stalwart defensive lineman Kenny Clark to acquire Parsons, and the feeling was, that would be costly in the team’s efforts to handle the run. Detroit, after all, rushed for 2,488 yards last season, sixth in the NFL. Without Clark, surely the Packers would be in trouble.
Wooden, who is helping replace Clark in the middle, took the call from his dad, who said, “Do me a favor, shut ‘em up.”
And he, along with the entire Packers defensive front, did just that, holding the Lions to 46 yards on 22 carries, their lowest rushing output since Week 6 in 2023. Wooden, Devonte Wyatt and Karl Brooks held the line admirably in the middle all day for the Packers.
Colby Wooden: ‘I Took That Personal’
Wooden, for one, was insulted by the questions about the team’s inability to hold against the run.
“I for sure took that personal …” Wooden said. “So I just, did my job, went out there, stopped the run. I took it personal. Honestly, I felt like it was kinda disrespectful, like, ‘Oh, they gonna run the ball.’ So I made it my mission—we, excuse me—we made it our mission to shut them down.”
That’s not easy to do against the combo of Jahmyr Gibbs and David Montgomery, nicknamed Sonic and Knuckles.
“We know what they want to do,” Wooden said. “Last year, they wanted to run. They call them Sonic and Knuckles, or whatever. They want to run them 30 times. So we know they want to run that ball. We’ve got to do our job to stop the run so they can get back and let (Parsons) go get them.”
Packers Filling Roles With Micah Parsons on Board
Wooden said the effect of having Parsons on the field was obvious, and it works both ways. When offenses focus on corralling Parsons, the other Packers must step up.
“Everybody’s got a job to do, everybody got a role,” Wooden said. “Everybody’s got to buy into their role. We know what attention and what he comes with. And we know we got to stop that run, go help him out, if he is getting is getting chipped, doubled or whatever, now it’s somebody else’s turn to win their one-on-one.”
Packers Have Commanders Next
And despite the obviously encouraging results, Wooden is not getting ahead of himself. The Commanders will be next on the docket, with fearsome young quarterback Jayden Daniels on hand.
“It’s just one week,” Wooden said. “It’s Week 1. It’s great to start off with a win, dominate. But we’ve got to keep it going. We got a good team coming here on Thursday, we know we got to be ready to stop that run and contain that quarterback. So we just gotta keep going, keep getting better, keep jelling.”
