The news that Philadelphia Eagles fans did not want to hear was revealed on Saturday—Pro Bowl wide receiver A.J. Brown(knee) will miss Monday night’s Wild Card game against the Buccaneers in Tampa.
Brown injured his right knee in the first quarter and did not return in the team’s 27-10 loss to the Giants in the season finale.
According to ESPN’s Adam Schefter, if Philly advances, Brown could be ready next week in the Divisional Round.
“It was going to be a stretch for A.J. to play,” Eagles coach Nick Sirianni said on Saturday. “He did everything he possibly could to get himself ready. Obviously, you all saw the reports. It’s not looking like he’s going to go, but he fought like crazy to try to do everything he could do to do so, which doesn’t surprise me at all about A.J. He’s tough, and he’d do anything for his teammates. Unfortunately, he won’t be able to rip it this week.”
Without Brown, the Eagles will have to rely heavily on DeVonta Smith and tight end Dallas Goedert. In addition, Quez Watkins, Olamide Zaccheaus, and Julio Jones will have a much more significant role.
Sirianni discussed how the team will try to replace Brown’s contributions.
“I think that’s been a big-time strength – or one of our big strengths as a team — is the pass catchers we have,” he said. “And when you look at it, you think about A.J., you think about Dallas, you think about [WR] DeVonta [Smith]. And then you think about [RB] D’Andre [Swift] and the role that he has, as well. And I’m not even mentioning [WR] Julio [Jones] and those guys, and [WR] Quez [Watkins] and OZ [WR Olamide Zaccheaus], who’ve made plays throughout the year, as well, so excited for those guys to get a little bit more opportunity.
“Obviously, you always miss the contributions that A.J. makes. He’s a phenomenal player, but really excited about the opportunity. And I know we’ve got – one reason we’re in this game and in this position is because of the pass catchers we have, in addition to A.J. Brown.”
The Eagles will also have to worry about quarterback Jalen Hurts, who dislocated his middle finger on his throwing hand against the Giants. Hurts did throw on Friday, and Sirianni gave an update on his quarterback.
“Yeah, I thought we had a really good practice as a team,” Sirianni said about Hurts. “Jalen had a good practice. Obviously, everyone’s going to be fighting through things, he’s fighting through the finger injury, but he had a good practice yesterday so excited for him and this opportunity. Really excited. I mean, the energy and the juice in this building today of being here and in the playoffs again. We’re really excited. We can’t wait. We can’t wait to be in this game against a really good opponent. You play a long season to get to this moment right here. And we’re really excited to go.
Sirianni was also asked about the challenges of playing with a dislocated finger.
“I remember [former NFL QB] Carson Palmer a couple years ago, he would hand the ball off like this, he had some thumb injury on his right hand so he would hand it off back handedly,” he said. “So I mean, anytime with a finger injury or a hand injury or any sort [of injury], you think about all those different things. Like I said, he had a good practice yesterday, he was able to go back into the game, and I know how tough he is and how much grit he has to fight through different things. So yeah, I believe in Jalen, and I believe in the guy.”
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