The “drama” between Jalen Hurts and AJ Brown epitomizes the Eagles’ expectations

This time a season ago, the Philadelphia Eagles were also 2-0 after a convincing win over the Minnesota Vikings. However, unlike last year, there is a bit of controversy surrounding the Birds as Jalen Hurts and wide receiver AJ Brown were caught exchanging blows on the sidelines. The incident was made worse by the fact that the recipient was not there to speak to the media afterwards 34-28 win over the Vikes.

Here’s the argument that’s actually nothing, as Al Michaels and Kirk Herbstreit prove because they didn’t even acknowledge it in real time.

The reason this is important is because it is the NFL, they are the reigning NFC champions, and there is a quarterback and/or receiver involved. Trainer Nick Sirianni downplayed the incident after the gameand says that these discussions remain internal.

“The conversations we have on the field will be confidential. And the conversations we have in our locker room will be private,” he said. You don’t need to know what exactly happened there.”

Hurts also did his best to keep the drama to a minimum.

“I think everyone wants to make plays and everyone wants to contribute,” the QB said of Brown. “I’m not worried about him. He’s a great player, a great teammate, a great friend and we’ll do everything we can to win.”

That’s the language of a quality player, and I trust it given how hesitant new offensive coordinator Brian Johnson was to move on from D’Andre Swift and a dominant running game. Hurts didn’t have to drop back much, and when he threw to Brown, the 25-yard score was negated by a holding call.

Week 1 vs. New England hasn’t been perfect compared to last year, and there’s way too much emphasis on the Brown Hurts stuff even though the team is 2-0 on the road Bill Belichick and an explosive offense in Minnesota in a short week without key members of their secondary. I’ve seen the Eagles described as “sluggish” for not routinely sacking the Patriots. Think about it. I know it was Mac Jones, but opening week in Foxborough is still not guaranteed.

Mostly in the NFL, this is what winning looks like. I’m not saying the Eagles aren’t Super Bowl contenders. That’s true, but I doubt they’ll start 8-0 and beat everyone else by 30 points to get to a 14-3 record in the first round Bye, and a trip to Las Vegas.

Fans don’t have to look far for a comparison, as the Chiefs also went 14-3 last year. The path to this album, however, was a completely different, more varied path. They blew a game in Indy, won in overtime against Tennessee and Houston, and lost to their two would-be AFC challengers.

Again, Philly could very well be the only seed this postseason. It’s just a lot harder when you have Buffalo, Miami, Kansas City and San Francisco on the schedule instead of the AFC South and NFC North. As a result, there will be more adversity and (thankfully) not as many Eagles fans dancing in people’s mentions and complaining tirelessly. They’ll still be on your timeline and keep their mouths shut, but there might also be some of that patented fraternal pessimism present.

To train in Philly, you have to be optimistic but not delusional, steadfast but not condescending, and never shy. These people smell blood and go into a frenzy like piranhas in an Ernst Blofeld koi pond.

The only way to deal with Philly media and fans is the way Sirianni does it – he’s passionate, he’s a little defensive and he’s honest. This is a huge success in this city and it will work as long as they win. If they had lost, the Brown testimony would rightly be in the newsand sensible fans need to discuss it (unlike sports bloggers hungry for clicks).

I can’t believe I’m not putting pressure on Eagles fans at the moment, but there’s no reason to worry about this team until they’re out of rugby heading to the Ws. Let them lose a game or go into halftime without a lead before trying to turn a conversation between Jalen Hurts and AJ Brown into Donovan McNabb and Terrell Owens 2.0.