Philadelphia Eagles wide receiver A.J. Brown and quarterback Jalen Hurts spent portions of their Wednesday media availability insisting they are "good" after defensive end Brandon Graham said earlier in the week the two "were friends, but things have changed."
Hurts and Brown have since spoken with teammates about the matter, and head coach Nick Sirianni also addressed the elephant in the room with his players as the 11-2 Eagles try to prepare for this Sunday's home game versus the 10-3 Pittsburgh Steelers.
"(Sirianni) was just telling us that it was handled, it was taken care of,“ Eagles defensive tackle Milton Williams told Cayden Steele of NJ Advance Media for NJ.com on Wednesday. "He told us not to worry about it. We’re all in this together. We all have one common goal. We’re trying to win."
The latest drama involving Eagles players began when Brown seemed to criticize Hurts after the quarterback passed for just 108 yards in Philadelphia's 22-16 win over the Carolina Panthers. While Graham undeniably placed a massive spotlight on the situation via his original comments on Monday, he later indicated he misspoke and "assumed that it was something that it wasn't."
"(Nick) was just reiterating (in the team meeting) that we are all a team," Eagles safety Tristin McCollum said about the message delivered by Sirianni this week. "Sometimes emotions fly. But that’s just life."
Meanwhile, Williams said the story has been "blown out of proportion" throughout the week.
"Brothers are going to fight," Hurts and Brown told teammates, per Williams. "Brothers are going to get into it."
Much has been made over the past 12 months about whether Hurts' leadership style and personality along with an alleged "problem that would splinter any group of men" caused the 2023 Eagles to fall apart after they won 10 of their first 11 games. On Wednesday, Eagles offensive tackle Jordan Mailata said those in the locker room are now "moving on" from the latest potential distraction hovering over the organization.
"It is the Pittsburgh Steelers this week," Mailata added. "Not the A.J. Brown and Jalen show."
History shows Hurts could target Brown early and often against the Steelers if only to try to put this particular topic to bed for good. If nothing else, the game between two first-place clubs has become all the more interesting.
As of Thursday morning, DraftKings Sportsbook listed the Eagles as 5.5-point favorites against the Steelers.
