AJ Brown Defends Nick Sirianni, Praises His Loyalty
There have been several times this season where AJ Brown was visibly frustrated. And with him not speaking to the media the past two weeks, there was a lot of…
PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA – JANUARY 29: Head coach Nick Sirianni of the Philadelphia Eagles celebrates with A.J. Brown #11 after defeating the San Francisco 49ers to win the NFC Championship Game at Lincoln Financial Field on January 29, 2023 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
(Photo by Tim Nwachukwu/Getty Images)There have been several times this season where AJ Brown was visibly frustrated. And with him not speaking to the media the past two weeks, there was a lot of speculation about what was bothering him so much. Many assumed he was upset with Nick Sirianni. And while it might be the playcalling on offense that has him upset, he still came out today and had some strong words in defense of his head coach, and his QB.
"There may be things that Nick wants to fix about himself, but one thing I can respect, is that loyalty is not one of them... He takes up for us when it has nothing to do with him. He gets the blame for it, it comes with the job. Sometimes Jalen does the same thing. Just like Brian, he gets the wrong end of the stick sometimes."
Strong words by Brown in defending his coach. And Nick Sirianni has been very good at accepting blame and defending his people. When criticism goes towards Brian Johnson or any of the players, Nick is always the first person to remind people that it is his offense, and he is the coach. And clearly, that is something that resonates with the players.
Despite the many issues on this team, they have at least stopped short of pointing fingers publicly. They all come out and say the right thing, taking personal responsibility and defending their teammates and coaches. And Nick may be the inspiration for that behavior.
AJ Brown is not the first player to come out in strong defense of Sirianni. Jordan Mailata also pushed back on claims that Nick had lost the locker room. So while rumors swirl, the Eagles are at the very least in lockstep publicly.
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If we thought the vibes on the Eagles couldn't get any worse, man were we wrong. Because as bad as thing were after the 49ers, Cowboys, and Seahawks losses, they are way worse after the debacle that was the loss to the Cardinals. They let a 3-win team come into town, and embarrass them on defense. They failed to force a single punt and let them drive into or near the Red Zone on every single drive. Now they go into week 18 as the 5-seed, with little hope to improve their position.
What has gone wrong? It would be quicker to point out the things that have gone well. The Special Teams is great. Their O-Line is still elite. After that... yea it is hard to come up with anything else. Their defense is as bad as it gets. And while they may have talent on offense, the players aren't executing, and the coaches aren't doing a good job of maximizing their talent.
A once-promising season has imploded. They will be in the playoffs, but no one seems to have any confidence that they can win there, including the people on the team. The locker room seems to be falling apart, and the anonymous leaks have already begun speaking of discontent among the players toward the coaching staff.
After those other 3 losses, the people who write these Power Rankings were oddly optimistic still about the Eagles. With some even going at Eagles fans for nor being too negative. Which is weird because none of them had anything good to say about the Eagles when they were winning. But surely now, for the first time all year, Eagles fans and the National Media can all be on the same page, right?
Here is where the Eagles fell in the Week 18 Power Rankings:
ESPN- 8 (Previously 5)
ESPN focused their power rankings on talking about the biggest offseason contract situation for each team. And yea, Devonta Smith is a big one. He is one of the few guys living up to his potential this year, and keeping him needs to be a priority. The problem is that will make it even harder to fix the issues they have on defense, and it will become imperative that they really start to hit on their draft picks in bring in some young and cheap talent.
NFL.com- 9- (Previously 4)
It is hard to see the eagles figuring stuff now. They have been this way all year. They got away with it due to sheer talent and some luck early. But it caught up to them. If you can't force a single punt from the Cardinals, you may just be a terrible defense. And this defense just does not have the talent to play at a playoff level, and the coaches are making it worse with decisions that make no sense.
The Athletic- 11 (Previously 7)
Demoting Sean Desai didn't work, because the DC was never the real problem. You can have the best scheme in the NFL, and if you don't have the talent it still won't work. That is not to say either Desai or Patricia did their job well. But it is hard to fairly judge them when they simply don't have the players to run any type of scheme effectively.
Sports Illustrated- 8 (Previously 7)
Nothing that happens in week 18 matters much for them anyway. Even if they came out and finally had that perfect game (they won't) it wont change their seeding, or how anyone feels about them. We have seen them for 16 games, and its clear the team just isn't good enough. they are poorly coached on offense, and lack the talent on defense. Nothing is going to suddenly change for either of those issues.
Yahoo Sports- 10 (Previously 6)
Yep, hard to argue with any of that. This team has given you no reason to be confident in them. And blowing this game may be the final nail in the coffin. They just aren't good enough.
CBS Sports- 9 (Previously 5)
Major issues could be the title of this teams year end wrap up video.
