The gates swung open to the practice fields behind the Eagles’ NovaCare Complex in early May. Sprinkled in with the rookies, the undrafted, and veteran tryout players such as John Ross was A.J. Brown.
That didn’t get lost on Nick Sirianni. The head coach met with reporters afterward and gave Brown credit for being there, just days after signing a contract extension that will keep him with the Eagles through 2029.
He didn’t have to be in town, but there he was any way, arguably this team's best player.
“I love football,” said Brown when asked about that during the Eagles’ mandatory minicamp. “I was itching to get back. I wanted to be around the guys, if I can help somebody with something, I’ll do that. Just trying to be a good leader.”
The perception inside the locker room after Brown stopped talking to reporters during the Eagles' 1-6 fade into oblivion and among the fan base that didn’t think Brown’s body language was perfect, was that Brown wasn’t being a good leader, maybe didn’t love football.
Brown was upset at losing. Period. He was upset that an injury early in the regular-season finale on a track at MetLife Stadium that players across the league complain about perhaps more than any other surface cost him a shot at playing in the Eagles’ playoff game the following week and not being able to put up more than 1,500 yards for the first time in one season in his still-blossoming career.
His longtime trainer, Joey Guarasico, said as much when he talked to ESPN recently.
"He was pissed off about not being able to play in that playoff game and not finishing the season out with his teammates," said Guarascio, who told ESPN that Brown went to Florida Atlantic University in Boca Raton earlier than usual. "He wanted to hit the ground running. He said, 'I want to be in the best shape of my life.’”
Brown certainly looked like he was during spring workouts, though he didn’t want to comment on his training regimen, except to say that he thinks he is.
Then added, “I always ask myself at the end of the season, can I work harder? What else can I do? The answer is always yes.”
The way the season ended last year didn’t sit well, but that’s not why Brown is putting in the time to condition himself and to be a leader yet again after being voted by his teammates to be a team captain each of the past two years.
“There’s always a lesson,” he said about last year. “There’s always something to learn from. I feel like you better learn something from it, or it’s going to return. I’m always going to have that mentality to put in the work and grind and put my best foot forward, and attack each and every day moving forward.
“I can’t worry about the past. I can’t worry about yesterday. I’m here right now, and that’s all I have today.”
In just two seasons with the Eagles, Brown has totaled 2,952 yards receiving on 194 receptions with 18 touchdowns. A few more statistical years like that and he will become the greatest receiver in Eagles history if he isn’t considered that already.
