In the aftermath of the Eagles' Week 5 loss to the Broncos, in which the offense at times couldn't seem to get into second gear, it was reported that the likes of quarterback Jalen Hurts, running back Saquon Barkley and wide receiver A.J. Brown had a meeting. The trio of Eagles stars were said to have had a long, positive conversation, with both Hurts and Barkley addressing the meeting but seeming to downplay its significance.
Brown, following the Eagles' second straight loss on Thursday night against the Giants, opted to purposely not acknowledge that it had even occurred. After he created plenty of headlines with his response to a question about said meeting, Brown took to his account on X (formerly Twitter) to set the record straight.
"Just to clear this up," Brown wrote. "That wasn’t a meeting or a sit-down. I said 'I don’t recall' because it got painted like there was tension and Sa [Saquon Barkley] had to step in. That’s not true. I was walking to my car, saw them, and stopped to talk. Nothing more."
Brown clearly didn't want to pour any more gasoline on the proverbial fire of this situation, hence his seeming forgetfulness when asked about the meeting on Thursday night.
These are frustrating times for the Eagles, who still sit atop the NFC East despite their offense failing to resemble the unit that helped power the franchise to its second-ever Super Bowl title last winter. And there's no shortage of ideas on how Philadelphia can get back to that point. Pro Bowl right tackle Lane Johnson suggested the Eagles are too "predictable" on offense. Barkley, in a predictability-be-damned take, feels that the Eagles need to get their mojo back in terms of their attitude on offense.
But Brown himself might have been the voice of reason during his postgame news conference Thursday after he was asked if it was surprising that it's taken this long for Philadelphia to figure things out offensively given the continuity in terms of personnel. Brown suggested that opposing defenses are showing the Eagles different looks than last year, and that it sometimes takes the offense as a whole some time to figure out the best counterattack and ultimately, its own identity.
"What game is it? Game 6? I think sometimes it just takes longer than we expected," Brown said. "I think we're just trying to figure things out. They're just playing us different than last year and I know you guys want it to look a certain way and I think we're trying to make it look that way and then adjust. We're still trying to find our identity. I think that's safe to say.
"But regardless of whatever identity we're trying to become, I think it just comes down to execution whenever we're running the ball or passing the ball."
Philadelphia will next take on the Vikings in Week 7 before another date with the Giants in Week 8.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as A.J. Brown Clears the Air About Saquon Barkley-Jalen Hurts Meeting He Couldn't Recall.
