Philadelphia Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni is defending A.J. Brown, offering a strong argument about why he's fine with the star wideout reading on the sidelines during a game. Sirianni went to bat for his player, upset at the narrative out there that Brown was reading "Inner Excellence" to hide his frustrations with the offense.
"We don't do any research, and we jump to a conclusion of, 'Oh he must be disgruntled.' That, to me, is lazy," Sirianni said on SportsRadio WIP on Tuesday. "Everyone needs to figure out why he's doing it before they jump to judgment on the man.
"Because the man, A.J. Brown is a great, great, great person. The man A.J. Brown is the best receiver -- and I'll say it without hesitation -- the best receiver that this city has ever seen. ... It's hard for me to watch when people are getting on him without doing the proper research of who the man is and what he's doing in the first place."
Brown had just three targets in the Eagles' wild-card victory over the Green Bay Packers, making one catch for 10 yards. He had season lows in targets, catches and receiving yards, but was adamant he wasn't frustrated with his team or the way he performed.
"I was not frustrated at all. I figure that's what y'all probably thought," Brown said. "I wasn't frustrated. Why you always think I'd be frustrated? I like to read."
Brown is playing through a knee injury, which kept him out of practice last Thursday. He gutted it out this week, and is expected to play through the injury as long as the Eagles are in the postseason.
Eagles wide receiver Jahan Dotson defended Brown reading on the sidelines in a social media post. Dotson disproved the theory that Brown only reads when he's frustrated by posting a picture of Brown reading during Philadelphia's Week 16 game against the Washington Commanders, when Brown racked up eight catches for 97 yards and a touchdown.
The camera just caught him this time.
"Some guys pray in between, some guys mediate in between. A.J. reads in between," Sirianni said. "Whatever these guys need to do to put their mind in a place where they can play with great detail and great effort, I fully encourage them to do that."
