As I’m sure you know by now, AJ Brown was unhappy after Sunday’s win because of the offense’s struggles in the passing game.

On Monday, Brandon Graham dumped a truck worth of diesel on the simmering flames by offering that Brown and quarterback Jalen Hurts were no longer close and issues on the field caused their off the field relationship to deteriorate. Graham has since walked back those statements a bit, but as we know, you can take the nail out of the wood but the hole still remains. Now here we are. The Eagles are fighting for a top seed in the NFC, they’re a legitimate Super Bowl contender, they’ve won nine straight games, and now stars are apparently beefing. Cool.

First of all, I had absolutely no issue with what Brown said after the game. In fact, I’d argue a lot of what he said has been misinterpreted. Brown was not clamoring for more touches per se. He simply wants more effectiveness out of the passing game. Rewind a couple weeks and Brown was on record as saying he was fine with his role in the offense because of how effective the offense was riding Saquon Barkley and the ground game. He talked about making the most of the opportunities he saw and he did that with great effectiveness. Making the most of limited opportunities and having your quarterback waste those limited opportunities are two entirely different things, and that’s where the frustration boiled over.

Brown is open. He’s open a lot. Hurts either doesn’t see him, hesitates too long, or flat out misses on the throw. If Brown gets 8 targets a game and Hurts nukes 5 of them, it makes sense why the star receiver is angry. We are all angry whenever Brown doesn’t touch the ball enough. I applaud Brown for getting on Hurts. The Eagles (at least from the public’s perspective) have treated Hurts with kid gloves over the past two seasons. It hasn’t worked. He has yet to climb back to that 2022 level. The next step is to have the team’s most talented player challenge the quarterback to step up his game. It has to happen if the Eagles have any shot at a ring this season. Hurts has not been good enough and he’s putting a cap on what should be the NFL’s best offense. Someone needed to get on Hurts. Brown did. I applaud him.

Will it work? Well, Hurts’ greatest attribute is his steady demeanor and strong will. He doesn’t do wild swings. On the other hand, I think this will at least get his attention. Brown isn’t just some receiver. He’s a leader and the two have been close friends for years. This should sting Hurts.

If you watch the game film, the same thing sticks out week after week; Hurts is slow to read and react. He’s gun-shy, afraid to pull the trigger when a receiver is breaking open. I don’t think he lacks trust in Brown or DeVonta Smith but I do think he’s playing scared. Scared to make a mistake. Scared to hurt the team.

Well guess what… football isn’t for the timid. Playing scared hurts the team more than the fallout from being aggressive. The Eagles… for the first time in Hurts’ career… have a great defense. They can handle your mistakes. They don’t need a 2001 Rams redux from the offense every Sunday.

Here’s what I’d do if I were Nick Sirianni and Kellen Moore…

The top seed is a pipe dream. Let’s be real. Take this week and just tell Hurts to let it rip. It doesn’t matter if it’s a Jared Goff five-interception kind of day. You’re playing the Steelers. The run game will be a struggle for most of the afternoon anyway. Prep Hurts all week to throw the ball 35 times. Go routes, deep posts, anything over the middle, swing passes, jump balls, corners; call it all. If you find yourself down three scores all the better because then there’s nothing we can do but throw the football. You have to get Hurts through this I can’t turn the ball over imaginary wall that is crippling the passing game.

Right now Hurts is an assassin with a conscience. An assassin can’t think about the morality of his/her actions seconds before they pull the trigger just like a quarterback can’t calculate the impact of a mistake before he throws. Play free, play fast. That’s what the Eagles need from Hurts, and if that means a bad turnover then so be it. The alternative is status quo, and status quo will get you sent home before the NFC Championship Game.

Other thoughts from Sunday:

• Aside from limiting his snap count, does it make any sense to keep Saquon Barkley on the sidelines during the two minute drill? If you’re the opposing defense, do you want Kenny Gainwell catching dump offs or the guy who cuts, spins and hurdles backwards over other professional athletes? That’s what I thought. Also, why do the Eagles wait until the 2^nd quarter before Barkley gets multiple carries on a set of downs? I swear football coaches think they are Elon Musk or something. It doesn’t have to be complicated. Do what you do best until the defense stops you. Stop trying to out maneuver what you think the defense is going to try to do to stop you. You are the better unit. Dictate the game. Force your will on them. When they catch up, then you adjust.

• The Eagles defense bailed the team out Sunday but it also felt like their worst performance in months. Though the time of possession wasn’t as lopsided as I expected, it felt like the Eagles were bullied Sunday. Carolina had four drives of at least ten plays and three of those were 12 or more. All three of the Panthers 2^nd half drives reached inside the Eagles 40. Football players are human. Coming of a big win against the Ravens with the Steelers on deck is a reasonable excuse to overlook the lowly Panthers, but that was not fun.

• Why hasn’t anyone in the media asked about Kelee Ringo or Eli Ricks? The Eagles secondary was shorthanded Sunday and Darius Slay continues to age by the game, or so it would appear. Can we not spell Slay at all? He looked gassed way too often Sunday. And I understand neither Ringo nor Ricks can play safety and that’s why the terror Avonte Maddox was inserted. Why not insert Ricks into the slot and drop Cooper DeJean to safety? Regardless, that was a rough afternoon for the secondary outside of Quinyon Mitchell.

• Anyone else have 2023 Week 15 flashbacks on Sunday? You know, when Drew Lock went 92 yards on 10 plays to erase a four point Eagles lead in the final two minutes of the 4^th quarter? Bryce Young almost did the same. He started at his own three and would’ve completed the 97 yard drive to take the lead if Xavier Legette had working hands.

• Hurts sliding to avoid the illegal man downfield call is the opposite of playing free and fast. Not only was he making calculations in his head instead of having his eyes downfield, but also his calculations produced the wrong outcome. Throw the football away and force the opponent to choose your fate. Either they push you back to 1^st and 15 or decline the penalty and give you 2^nd and 10. Either option is better than 2^nd and 19.