Neither A.J. Brown nor Terry McLaurin had a normal summer of preparation. And right now, that's the way it looks for the NFC East star wide receivers.
The Eagles' Brown and Commanders' McLaurin are both off to brutal stats to the campaign. Brown might as well be reading a book on the sideline with how much he's (not) being thrown to.
But in a new ESPN trend analysis piece published Wednesday morning, beat writers in Philadelphia and Washington believe turnarounds are coming.
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First, this is what Eagles writer Tim McManus had to say about Brown:
"Brown has had over 1,000 yards receiving in each of his three seasons in Philadelphia and has gone over 1,400 yards twice. He has averaged 15.6 yards per reception over his career compared with just 5.8 through two games. The Eagles pass game is still finding its way under new offensive coordinator Kevin Patullo. This is a run-oriented offense but that hasn't stopped Brown from being productive. He missed significant time this summer with a hamstring injury. Assuming his health continues to trend in a positive direction, he should be back to filling up the stat sheet before long."
The main concern is Jalen Hurts' reduced throwing efficiency and volume even from standard Philly times, but if anyone can still make it work, it's Brown.
This is how Commanders writer John Keim broke down McLaurin:
"McLaurin has topped 1,000 yards in five consecutive seasons so there's no reason to believe his production won't increase. But the slow start was somewhat expected given that he missed all of training camp (in addition to OTA and minicamp practices) while holding out/in. He's receiving a similar number of targets as he did last year (6.88 in 2024; 6.5 in 2025) and he was getting open vs. Green Bay -- but the Packers' pass rush often negated chances. McLaurin is still getting open -- when he runs a route after lining up wide left (his usual spot), he's averaging 2.53 yards of separation compared with 2.63 last year. It's a matter of time for McLaurin."
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This one, from a neutral perspective, seems a tad safer. Once Jayden Daniels gets rolling, McLaurin should come along with him.
There have been no such problems elsewhere in the NFC East. The Cowboys' CeeDee Lamb and Giants' Malik Nabers are off to monster starts to the season.
Brown and McLaurin hope their time is coming.
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