As the world turns, so does the news cycle. One story refuses to go away in Philadelphia, though, and it's centered on A.J. Brown.
The receiver's discontentment with his limited role in the Eagles' offense has been a persistent storyline during the 2025 season, and while team leadership and even Brown himself downplays the seriousness of the matter, the issue refuses to fade away.
In a video that surfaced Tuesday night, Twitch streamer JankyRondo played a game of Madden NFL 26 on a livestream against a PlayStation user named imopen11 who was purportedly Brown, and asked him over in-game chat if everything was going well.
"Everything been good, though?" the streamer asked. "Everything been straight? Mental good? Kids good?"
"I mean, no," the person replied, chuckling. "Where have you been? Family good? Yeah. Everything else? No. It's been a s---show."
The person who was purportedly Brown laughed his way through his response, seemingly at the absurdity of both the question and his frustrating reality. Later in the game, the same person offered advice to fans watching.
"If you got me on fantasy, man, get rid of me," he said, laughing again.
Although Brown never appeared in the video, his participation in the in-game chat was confirmed Wednesday when he spoke to reporters in the locker room following practice.
Asked for his perspective on the livestream in which he came off unhappy with his situation, Brown noted he would not apologize.
"I think if you've got eyes, you can see that," Brown said regarding things not going well. "It's the same things I've been saying all season. So me making light of my situation on Twitch with my friend, that's something I'm not apologizing for. Because, like I said, if you have eyes, you can see that."
Later asked for more clarification on the video, Brown said: "After the game, I said all the right answers, and y'all still made a story. In that moment where I'm just talking to my friend, having fun with my friend, I'm not apologizing for that. ... It's not that I was throwing anybody under the bus. I'm literally trying to laugh through this s---. This s--- is tough. But I'm trying to make fun of the situation and to try to get through it. It is what is is, man."
Clips of the exchange spread virally across social media on Wednesday, trickling into Eagles coach Nick Sirianni's meeting with reporters.
"I'm close to being done answering these questions with this," Sirianni said, via ESPN. "He's working hard and he is a big part of this game plan [for Sunday's game against the Lions] and he'll be a big part of the game plan going forward. He's working like crazy when he's here, and I'm excited to have him."
Quarterback Jalen Hurts was also broached about the issue.
"I know you gotta ask those questions and I have a lot of respect for that," Hurts said. "My focus always goes back to what the group is doing and what the collective is. Obviously, A.J. plays a pivotal role in what we've been and what we've done. And so, we just have to continue to grow with that every day. I know he's talked about having a growth mindset and embracing that, so we just need that mentality as we go throughout this season and try to get to where we're trying to go."
When it comes to this persistent topic, Brown's lack of production certainly doesn't help matters. Over Brown's last five games, he's seen 35 targets, good for a satisfactory average of seven per game. He's caught just 19 of them for 264 yards and two touchdowns, with nearly half of those yards and both scores coming in a 28-22 win over the Vikings in Week 7.
Even in that game, Brown appeared subdued when celebrating his first score, almost as if the entire ordeal has left him weary.
The ongoing drama inspired some to wonder whether the Eagles might trade Brown at the deadline, but once it passed and Brown remained an Eagle, general manager Howie Roseman succinctly explained why he wouldn't send the three-time Pro Bowler elsewhere: "You just don't get rid of guys like that."
After the deadline passed, Brown played in Philadelphia's low-scoring win over the Green Bay Packers on Monday night and was all but invisible, seeing two targets over the majority of the contest before a questionable fourth-down decision called for a deep shot to Brown that landed incomplete in the game's final minute. He left Lambeau Field with two catches for 13 yards in the 10-7 triumph, adding fresh fuel to the long-lasting fire.
"If you look at how the game went, there were a lot of plays that are going to [Brown] that for different reasons don't," Sirianni explained Wednesday. "For instance, [DeVonta Smith]'s touchdown, that play is going to A.J.; they took it away, and [Hurts] threw it over the top. You can't look at stats and just say this is what's happening. You can't paint the picture that way."
Likewise asked about the ball not coming his way more from Hurts at times, Brown, too, offered a measured explanation.
"Certain plays have different reads despite what it looks like when somebody takes a screenshot," he said. "And you can't go off that. [Hurts] has certain reads. He has a lot going on in his head that he's trying to process, and then also he has pressure in his face. Maybe that's a question for him or K.P. (offensive coordinator Kevin Patullo)."
Sirianni made a valid point with his response, a snapshot of the difficulty of evaluating a player's importance or lack thereof in an offense, and Brown gave Hurts grace for much more happening on any given play than a receiver simply coming open and getting thrown to.
Just because Brown isn't racking up the gaudy numbers of the last three seasons -- three straight 1,000-yard campaigns that included a trio of second-team All-Pro nods -- it doesn't mean he's not important to their plans.
"A.J. Brown is one of the best receivers in the NFL, so of course we're trying to get him involved in the game every single time," Sirianni said.
Still, until Brown starts producing at the rate most have become accustomed, the narrative will persist -- even in the largely lawless land of livestreaming -- something the three-time Pro Bowler is aware of as he continues pushing for improvement from himself and the offense as a whole.
"I don't care if I'm misunderstood," he said. "I'll stand up in front of it and fall on that sword over and over again. It's about doing what we're supposed to be doing on offense. If we are really in this business, we're trying to get better, we got to do what we got to do. And not just say, 'Oh, it's about wins.' Like, 'As long as we got the win it's cool.' No, you cannot do that. Not in this league. You've got to continue to get better. We've got to do what we have to do on offense to help the defense."
