Oct 1, 2023; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts (1) and wide receiver A.J. Brown (11) walk off the field against the Washington Commanders at Lincoln Financial Field. Mandatory Credit: Eric Hartline-USA TODAY Sports Eric Hartline
Update 8:19 p.m. ET: In response to the clip below going viral, Graham issued the following statement to ESPN's Tim McManus.
Just spoke with Brandon Graham. He clarified his comments about Jalen Hurts and A.J. Brown's relationship.
"I just assumed [about their friendship] and it made me out to look even worse because I had it all wrong and now people are going to run with that part."
[Cont.]
— Tim McManus (@Tim_McManus) December 10, 2024
"I really just want to win, man, and I want brothers to be able to just hash it out.
“I’m going to make sure I apologize to both of them.”
As for the overall message Graham was trying to convey:
“I wasn’t trying to be divisive. I just didn’t want us to use the media in a bad way. I can’t do that either. If I’ve got something [to say], I’ve got to go to the people, too."
"I made a mistake and I assumed that it was something that it wasn’t. I just want to win so bad that I don’t just want to use the media when we need to talk about something and we can fix the problem ourselves. I didn’t add to it in a good light so that’s my bad.”
— Tim McManus (@Tim_McManus) December 10, 2024
Original Story
Perhaps Brandon Graham misspoke. But man, this is a pretty damning quote.
We should note, in this quote that Graham gave in his weekly show on SportsRadio 94 WIP, he refers to Jalen Hurts as 1, and A.J. Brown as 11, their respective numbers:
"The person that's complaining needs to be accountable," Graham said. "And I'm just being honest. And he know this. You know, I don't know the whole story but I know that 1 is trying. And I mean, 11 could be a little better with how he responds to things. And they was friends before this. It's like, man. But things have changed. And I understand that, because life happens. But it's the business side that we have to make sure that we don't let the personal get in the way [of]. And that's what we gotta do better at right now. Because we know it's an issue, everybody's saying some things. But we need to be able to talk things out as men. You know what I'm saying? But we need to let personal stuff go. And let's get right for this game, because man, it's like a lot of stuff, most of the time it's just a conversation that just needs to be had. But the person with the problem [has] gotta want to talk to the person, other than others. That's all I'm saying."
“I know 1 is trying and 11 could be better with how he responds to things. They were friends, but things have changed.”
Brandon Graham on AJ Brown and Jalen Hurts.
Video: @SportsRadioWIP
pic.twitter.com/9uZiSJ8rbk
Sometimes you see a quote that looks bad and then watch the clip and get a different perspective. This isn't one of those times. Graham — a team captain who is out for the season — seemed to be pretty frustrated with Brown, as it pertains to his relationship with Hurts.
This comes on the heels of Brown giving a slew of short but candid answers after he had four catches for 43 yards in Sunday's 22-16 win over the Carolina Panthers. The most telling one came when Brown was asked what needs to be improved offensively and he responded by saying "passing."
AJ Brown on what the Eagles offense needs to improve on:
“Passing”
Video: @EliotShorrParks
pic.twitter.com/8rjYZGWC6H
Hurts did throw two touchdowns, but struggled for much of the day though the air. Neither of those two touchdown passes went to Brown, though as we pointed out, they probably could have.
It's worth noting that Hurts struggled in general throwing the ball Sunday, not just when Brown was open:
Jalen Hurts - per @NextGenStats:
4 sacks on 9 pressures - 3.29 average time to pressure was slowest in league this week so far
3.47 Average Time to Throw - slowest of season for him
5.1 yards/attempt - lowest of season
5.6 air yards/attempt - lowest of season
The bigger dynamic — you can't really call it an issue — is that Saquon Barkley is having a legendary season this year, and the best formula for the Eagles is to be a run-based team. That's why Hurts is averaging 23.4 pass attempts per game this season, as opposed to 31.6 a year ago. And that puts more pressure on Hurts to find Brown and DeVonta Smith when the team does drop back to pass, so they feel like they're still being properly utilized.
The Eagles are 11-2, winners of nine in a row. But things are never simple with this franchise.
