In large part, the Eagles cleaned house among their coaching staff after suffering through a second-half downward spiral this season.
And now, one of their star wideouts is speaking out about the changes.
Philadelphia let go of offensive coordinator Brian Johnson along with defensive coordinator Sean Desai while also parting ways with Matt Patricia, who was added an assistant to Desai toward the end of the season after ongoing defensive struggles.
A.J. Brown, who often refused to speak to the media out of frustration after losses, found the words to address these recent changes — ones that he didn’t find it shocking, especially Johnson’s departure.
In an interview with the Associated Press, Brown said “somebody has to be the bad guy” when a team’s offense fails to find a stride as the Eagles did after their Week 12 overtime thriller win over the Bills.
The Eagles lost six of seven games after that, including a playoff clunker to the Buccaneers.
“In this league, somebody has to be the bad guy if something don’t go well. I wasn’t surprised,” Brown said. “Like I said earlier about the OC job, regardless of whoever you put in that position, it comes down to the players executing and making plays. Me personally, I’m not too attached to whoever’s in the OC position, because I have a job to do. When my number’s called, I have to answer.”
After the Eagles’ wild-card round playoff exit after a 32-9 loss to the Bucs, Johnson was replaced by former Cowboys and Chargers offensive coordinator Kellen Moore and former Dolphins defensive coordinator Vic Fangio has taken over for Desai.
Brown missed the Eagles’ lone playoff game after suffering a sprained knee in Week 18 against the Giants, which was a day after he deleted his X account and removed all Eagles references from his Instagram page.
Earlier this week, he was pressed about trade rumors during an appearance on FanDuel TV’s “Up & Adams” by host Kay Adams, and he didn’t say much to calm the chatter down.
“I don’t know. Maybe they know something I don’t know,” Brown said. “I kinda been through this before. I’m a vet. I’ll remain quiet. If something happens I’ll be waiting by the phone and if not, I’ll be right here.”
Fellow Eagles wide receiver DeVonta Smith was also on the show, and he jumped in to add that his teammate “ain’t going nowhere.”
