Getty Philadelphia Eagles WR AJ Brown trying to warm up ahead of an NFL game.
The Philadelphia Eagles‘ season is rapidly coming off the rails.
Losers of four of the last five games, the Eagles will now need help from the Washington Commanders just to win the NFC East.
Adding insult to injury, in the aftermath of the defense surrendering four consecutive scoring drives of 70+ yards in the second half of a loss to the Arizona Cardinals Sunday afternoon, one of Philadelphia’s star players is reportedly feuding with the coaching staff.
Marcus Hayes of The Philadelphia Inquirer reports that according to teammates, A.J. Brown is dissatisfied with the Eagles’ coaching staff amid Philadelphia’s second-half swoon.
After catching just four passes for 53 yards against the Cardinals, Brown declined to speak to the media.
“I’m not about to talk. It ain’t nothing to say,” Brown told reporters, with a smile. “It ain’t directed toward y’all.”
Following a first half of the season that saw Brown garner some attention on the fringes of the NFL MVP conversation, the 26-year-old has not reached the end zone since the Eagles’ Week 14 loss to the Dallas Cowboys.
At least one of Brown’s teammates has noticed the wide receiver’s dour demeanor, especially towards the end of Sunday’s loss.
“Any time you have bad body language from a leader like that, other guys see it, and it’s not good,” one veteran player told Hayes.
Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni seems to realize that he has a budding crisis in the locker room, pleading after the game from the podium that players remain committed with one regular season game remaining.
“Stick together,” Sirianni told reporters was his message to his players. “Stick together. Everyone’s got to stick together. “I think there’s going to be a lot of people trying to point the finger at different things. Everybody’s got to stick together, right? We win as a team. We lose as a team. And together is the most important thing that we can be right now.”
A.J. Brown Not Only Angry Eagle
Brown isn’t the only Eagles star voicing his frustrations.
According to Hayes, Eagles star pass-rusher Haason Reddick did not speak to reporters, either, following Sunday’s 35-31 loss to the Cardinals at Lincoln Financial Field.
“Emotions run high, man,” Reddick told Hayes in a direct response to the previous week’s events. “Emotions run high.”
Hayes points out that Reddick’s anger is directed at the head coach, following a sideline blowup in the latter stages of Philadelphia’s Christmas day victory over the New York Giants where Sirianni appeared to let his emotions get the better of him in a heated moment with several key defensive players.
The Eagles defense has allowed 26.6 points per game since Sirianni swapped Matt Patricia for Sean Desai ahead of a Week 15 loss to the Seattle Seahawks.
Reddick and the Eagles’ defense gets one more opportunity to find the kind of momentum that powered a 10-1 start, when Philadelphia travels to the Meadowlands to take on the New York Giants Sunday to close out the regular season.
How Eagles can Clinch No. 2 seed
After the San Francisco 49ers secured the No. 1 seed following their victory over the Commanders combined with the Eagles’ loss to Arizona, the best Philadelphia can do is finish as the No. 2 seed in the NFC.
Even that scenario will take some help.
In order for the Eagles to win the NFC East and secure the No. 2 seed, Philadelphia would need to beat the Giants and have the Dallas Cowboys fall to the Commanders.
The Eagles take on the Giants at 4:25 p.m. on January 7, at MetLife Stadium.