Sirianni weighs in on A.J. Brown's frustration in recent weeks

Sirianni weighs in on A.J. Brown's frustration in recent weeks originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia

A.J. Brown is frustrated and he’s either not good at hiding it or he doesn’t care to.

But everyone knows it, including his head coach.

On Monday afternoon, Nick Sirianni was asked about the origin of the frustration we’ve seen from the Eagles’ star receiver recently.

“Obviously, I don’t want to speak for him,” Sirianni said. “But, obviously, when you have a dynamic playmaker like A.J., he’s going to want to change the game at all times and he’s capable of doing that at all times. I don’t want to speak for him but obviously we’re all frustrated. We’re all frustrated right now, especially coming off that loss yesterday. And so you want to be able to have fun, you want to be able to do all these things and, you know, that football brings.

“But sometimes it’s hard to have fun and hard to find the enjoyment when you’re in a rut like we are. But he’s always going to want to change the game because he knows he’s capable. And that’s just him being the playmaker he is.”

Brown, 26, showed that frustration with his body language during the Eagles’ 35-31 loss to the Cardinals on Sunday a few times.

It was extremely noticeable when a FOX camera caught him shaking his head following a screen pass to Kenny Gainwell on 3rd-and-long in the fourth quarter. And then after the final desperation Hail Mary, Brown sat in the end zone for a few minutes before eventually making his way into the locker room.

After the game, Brown again declined to be interviewed by reporters. He also declined after last week’s win over the Giants and during the week between games. After the loss on Sunday against the Cardinals, Brown said there was nothing to say.

Although, a hard-to-avoid theory is that Brown has become disillusioned with the Eagles’ offensive coaching staff, game-planning and play-calling.

Before Brown walked off on Sunday evening, he told reporters that his frustration and refusal to answer questions was not directed at them.

Brown this season has 105 catches for 1,447 yards and 7 touchdowns. He now owns the top two spots for a single season in Eagles history. But his pace has cooled considerably from his stretch of six straight games with 120+ yards. He has gone over 100 yards just once in the last eight games.

“I’ve said this to you guys on the record, off the record, everything,” Sirianni said. “There’s nobody who’s as good of a teammate, there’s nobody who’s as good of a person as A.J. And, shoot, he’s one of our very best players and one of the best players since I’ve been here in the past three years. So I can’t say enough good things about him. We’re all frustrated. And like I said, I don’t want to speak for him on anything.”

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