When the Philadelphia Eagles traded wide receiver A.J. Brown to the New England Patriots, Philly fans were relieved to be moving on from all the drama he brought with him.
Over the last two years, Brown had been in the news, showing his frustrations with the Eagles. Most of it stemmed from the offense struggling, but the lack of targets seemed to boil over to the point that he was done with the Eagles after last year's playoff loss to the San Francisco 49ers.
Now that the Eagles have moved on, things are relatively quieter than in previous years. His new team, though, might already have signs that they'd better be careful how they treat the veteran receiver.
Patriots better be careful with A.J. Brown and Eagles fans know what's next
Boston Herald Patriots reporter Doug Kyed was on scene for the first day of Patriots training camp and made some interesting notes about it. One that will have Eagles fans' attention is that Brown had only one target all practice, but didn't catch a single pass.
This was the biggest complaint from Brown over the years in Philly. While he was getting the ball, he wasn't getting it in the same amount he believes a star receiver should.
He racked up over 5,000 yards receiving in four years with the Eagles, making two Pro Bowls, helping the team make the Super Bowl twice, and winning the Super Bowl once. Brown caught a touchdown late in the first half of the Super Bowl win over the Kansas City Chiefs in the 2024 season.
All the talk has been that Patriots quarterback Drake Maye better get the ball to Brown early and often to make him happy. They are off to a bad start that could only get worse if this is the trend.
This was part of the problem with Brown and Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts' relationship, as Hurts was more likely to spread the ball around. Part of the reason Philly's signal-caller had a 64% completion percentage was that he was forcing the ball to Brown to make him happy.
It's early in training camp, so a lot can still change, but this is already a bad sign of things to come. The Patriots will have to work harder to make sure Brown is the focal point of the passing game.
Read more: Eagles may have the answer to Panthers' crushing training camp blow
All Eagles fans can say is good luck, New England. He's your problem now.
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