A.J. Brown knows how to cause a stir on social media.
The mercurial Eagles receiver had fans buzzing Thursday when he changed his X and Instagram profile pictures to a photo of Patriots legend Tom Brady.
The photo shows Brady yelling while in his iconic No. 12 blue Patriots jersey.
In today’s day and age, such a move is dissected to the nth degree — and especially with the 2024 NFL Draft looming and the Patriots in desperate need of offensive playmakers.
In a since-deleted tweet, Brown claimed he was simply showing admiration for the future Hall of Famer.
“TB12 is my favorite player ever,” Brown posted on X on Thursday, according to NESN. “I watch the dynasty and it brought back some memories from my childhood. Go look up what he did in 2015 when he was doubted/disrespected. Yeah I see the disrespect. Motivated … yes. That’s it.
“I did not think changing my pfp [profile picture] to the greatest ever would cause controversy. Take Care.”
In theory, this explanation makes sense since Brown is coming off a disappointing finish to the season that saw him score just once in the final eight games and top 100 yards once in the final nine contests.
He missed the Eagles’ wild-card loss to Buccaneers due to an injury.
The disastrous end to the season led some to wonder if the team would fire coach Nick Sirianni and trade rumors involving Brown surfaced.
It’s understandable that Brown would feel disrespected or doubted and be on a mission to be a game-changing receiver yet again.
It’s also notable that Brown called himself in 2020 a “big Patriots fan” and thought New England would draft him in 2019, only for New England to pick N’Keal Harry in what proved to be a disastrous decision.
“I cried my eyes out,” Brown said in the interview. “I swear.”
But the timing of this can’t be discounted.
The Bills just traded Stefon Diggs to the Texans, and just two years ago the Eagles landed Brown from the Titans in a draft-day deal.
Patriots director of scouting Eliot Wolf said the team has talked with teams about potential wide receiver trades, according to NESN.
And as one internet sleuth — X user @SportsFellow_ — discovered, Brown followed Patriots quarterback Jacoby Brissett and receiver KJ Osborn recently on Instagram.
However, Sports Illustrated’s Albert Breer said the Eagles are not looking to trade Brown and the Patriots have asked about Brown’s availability.
“Philadelphia has gotten inquiries on A.J. Brown,” Breer said on NBC. “They have shut them all down and told other teams that he is not available.”
This isn’t the first time Brown has made waves on social media.
He returned from a hibernation to tweet during the Super Bowl about how he would have been viewed if he had an outburst like Travis Kelce, and previously deleted his X account and mentions of the Eagles on his Instagram page after a report labeled him as a “locker room poison.”
