Tim McManus
Philadelphia– eagles Coach Nick Sirianni defended aj brown after sunday 23-19 playoff loss till san francisco 49ersA game that included several drops by the star wide receiver and a heated sideline exchange between the two.
“He has the best hands I’ve ever seen. The way he catches the ball, he makes a variety of catches. When you get as many targets as he does, you’re going to have some drops,” said Sirianni, who impressed the ball in the air. “I know he’s going to beat himself up over this.”
Brown had two drops, tying his career high.
One of them came from Philadelphia’s 40-yard line on third-and-5 with a little more than two minutes remaining in the contest, with the Eagles trailing by four points. jalen hurts Maintained possession by completing a pass to the tight end dallas goedert On fourth down, and the Eagles eventually reached San Francisco’s 21-yard line before the drive stalled, ending their season disappointingly.
Brown, who had three catches for 25 yards on seven targets, declined to speak to the media after the game.
The first half ended with an animated conversation between Sirianni and Brown. Browns and Eagles left tackle Jordan Mailata They were slow to get off the field after a third-down incompletion, prompting Sirianni to run to the sideline and yell at them to get off the field as the special teams prepared to punt. Brown appeared to take exception, and the two faced off before Eagles chief security officer Dom DeSandro calmly directed Brown in the other direction.
Mailata said of Brown, “I like him – that passion, that fire, that grit.” “He gives everything for us every week. He’s battled some injuries, and he’s made himself available to play in every game this year.”
Asked what Brown said to Sirianni, Mailata said it was “not my business” and joked that he was “trying to get in the way” of Sirianni and Brown.
“Hey, between me and Dom, there’s a lot of room,” Mailata said.
Sirianni downplayed the exchange.
“I think he knows how I feel about him,” the coach said of Brown. “I have a special relationship with him. Maybe we do.” [gone] Stay together through every emotion you can possibly have. We have laughed together. We have cried together. We have yelled at each other. We both are emotional. I was trying to get him off the field and that’s what happens in this game.
“That happens in this game, but I love him.”
It was a bit of a difficult campaign for Brown, who got off to a slow start and expressed his frustration on several occasions, whether it was at his locker or on social media. He saw a bump in targets and production around the midpoint of the season and finished with 78 catches for 1,003 yards and seven touchdowns.
Still, Philadelphia’s talented offense could never find its footing, and it finally caught up to the Eagles during an elimination game against San Francisco.
Mailata said of Brown, “I thought he led with great humility and character, he picked us up when we weren’t executing.” “He has been quite vocal.”
