They say cornerbacks must develop short memories. They must become equally adept at moving on from both bad plays and good ones. It's hard to imagine that here actually. Philadelphia Eagles’ wide receiver A.J. Brown expanded his family by one more member on Sunday. He adopted a son while consistently ‘sonning’ Washington Commanders rookie cornerback Emmanuel Forbes in Week 4.
We don't often take the route of digging too deeply into the personal lives of players, but the dinnertime conversation had to have been pretty awkward on Sunday night, given the way that Brown publically humiliated Forbes in front of a crowd of 70,000 Eagles fans.
A.J. Brown's performance in Week 4 versus the Commanders was the 'welcome to the NFL' moment of a lifetime for Emmanuel Forbes.
We all knew this matchup between Brown and Forbes was going to be incredibly lopsided. Just look at the physical discrepancy between the two: Emmanuel Forbes, though talented, is both young and raw. He has a lot to learn. He is also listed as standing just over six feet tall while tipping the scales at 166 pounds. A.J. Brown is listed as six-foot-one and 226 pounds.
Buddy, that’s a 60-pound difference weight discrepancy.
With that being said, the question arises... Why the hell was Forbes chirping Brown? Why would you trash-talk a guy who's one of the best at his position, one who could eat you for breakfast and still have room left over?
Turns out, this was really dumb thing for Forbes to do. Like really really dumb. All time dumb. pic.twitter.com/yWO8efjVUP
— Jake Beckman (@JakeLBeckman) October 2, 2023
It’s always good to have a cornerback who can talk the talk, but they also need to prove that they can walk the walk. Forbes is crawling. During Week 4's game, A.J. hauled in two touchdowns. He tallied six receptions with Forbes covering him. It was brutal to watch, but A.J. never let up.
#Commanders rookie CB Emmanuel Forbes has been talking trash with #Eagles star WR AJ Brown all game
— JPAFootball (@jasrifootball) October 1, 2023
AJ Brown humbled him with this late game TD…
pic.twitter.com/wYXgwMzTK5
The penalty could have cost Brown's team, but did you see what he did? He put the ball in Forbes' lap after scoring. HE PUT THE BALL IN ANOTHER GROWN MAN’S LAP!
Yeah, again, it drew a well-deserved taunting call that could have potentially cost the Eagles the game, but let’s not focus on that. Let’s focus on how hysterically mean that was because that’s more fun to do. That celebration was enough to make Forbes sit on the bench and shake with anger.
AJ Brown had Emmanuel Forbes shaking yesterday 😂😂😂😂 #FlyEaglesFly #Eagles pic.twitter.com/7C2TFz9a0h
— Florida Boy Corey 🌴🍊🌊☀️ (@floridaboycorey) October 2, 2023
After the game, A.J. was asked about the Commanders' defense. His answer was both incredibly political and vengeful.
I asked Eagles WR A.J. Brown how he was being defended, particularly by Commanders 1st round pick Emmanuel Forbes Jr. #FlyEaglesFly pic.twitter.com/0mfTzCGQ0L
— O.J. Spivey (@OJPhilly) October 2, 2023
You love to see it. When the Eagles and the Commanders meet each other again in Week 8, it’s going to be must-see television. Not just for Eagles fans, but for everyone who loves a spite-driven dominant performance.