Philadelphia Eagles star wide receiver A.J. Brown has consistently expressed his frustration with the team’s offense, and ultimately the owner got involved. Eagles owner Jeffrey Lurie met with Brown to hash things out during a practice session earlier this week, according to ESPN’s Sal Palantonio.
The meeting was brokered by Dom DiSandro, Philadelphia’s Chief of Security, who encouraged Brown to speak with Lurie on the sideline. The meeting lasted about 10 minutes, per ESPN, and it sounds like it was productive.
Brown told the team owner that he would stop expressing his frustration publicly via social media. He also told Lurie that he remained frustrated and wanted to be more involved in the offense. Lurie told Brown that no apology was necessary, and the pair ended the meeting with a hug.
Earlier this week, Brown explained the root of his issues.
"I think if we're really focused on winning and doing our job, we can't just keep slapping a Band-Aid over the defense doing their job and getting us out of trouble,” Brown said. “At what point are we going to pick up our slack as an offense?
“It's been week after week sometimes we're not doing our job on offense,” he added. “You can't keep slapping a Band-Aid over that and expect to win late in the year and think you're going to go to that at the end of the year. It's not going to f---ing happen.”
At the end of the day, Brown has every right be frustrated, as Philadelphia’s offense has absolutely underperformed at time this season, especially in relation to the level of talent on the team. However expressing that frustration publicly and on social media, instead of behind closed doors with the team, isn’t ideal. Both things can be true.
Will this meeting between Brown and Lurie be enough to calm the waters for a bit? Time will tell, but it certainly seems like a step in the right direction, at least.