The Philadelphia Eagles could see one of their star wide receivers miss their Week 18 contest against the New York Giants. The Eagles need to win that game and hope the Washington Commanders knock off the Dallas Cowboys in order for Philadelphia to claim the NFC East. If they don’t, they’ll be relegated to being a Wild Card seed.
The Eagles’ locker room has reportedly been frustrated towards the latter half of the season as they’ve lost four of their previous five games, including a humiliating loss to the Arizona Cardinals. Wide receiver DeVonta Smith suffered an injury against the Cardinals.
DeVonta Smith misses Philadelphia Eagles practice Thursday
Per the NFL, Smith missed his second practice in a row this week due to an ankle injury. He’s trending towards missing the Giants game.
Eagles receiver DeVonta Smith (ankle) did not practice for a second straight dayhttps://t.co/k6DDdJPkZG pic.twitter.com/c3pTCeWbPg
— Around The NFL (@AroundTheNFL) January 4, 2024
A.J. Brown has been frustrated with the Eagles
Smith’s miss could help another wide receiver who had been vocal about his disappointment with the Eagles season, A.J. Brown. Brown has been subject to reports and rumors of his irritation with his role in the Eagles offense. According to Broos Kubena with The Athletic, Brown said this week everyone on the team is frustrated, including him:
“All you see is, ‘A.J. Brown is frustrated. A.J. this. A.J. that,’” Brown said. “Everybody in this locker room is frustrated. So why are you singling me out because I’m frustrated? Just because I’m shaking my head, I’m showing emotion?
You can look at everybody in the stadium has bad body language. They’re frustrated. Yeah, I wanted to clear that up. Because it’s not about me. We’re all frustrated.”
Per Kubena’s report, Brown said he was more upset with the Eagles player’s efforts than he was with the coaching staff. Brown said his body language wasn’t directed at offensive coordinator Brian Johnson:
“Brown said that on the second-and-16 run, in which Hurts lost 3 yards, if “somebody goes to the left and blocks a certain person, it’s a 30-yard touchdown.” He said he’d told the team Wednesday morning that the source of the blame “is not the coaches, it is us.”
He acknowledged that as a receiver, of course, he always wants the ball. “But if I don’t get the ball, all right, (Johnson) may have felt like that was best. Ain’t nothing I can do about it,” he said. And when he was shaking his head coming off the field, it was because he was upset Smith had gotten injured, not at Johnson’s play calls.”
Regardless of what Brown told the media, the Eagles coaching staff plans to make Brown happy this season. Johnson said this week they wanted to force Brown the ball to get him and the offense in rhythm.
If Smith can’t play against the Giants or his ankle limits his skills on the field, quarterback Jalen Hurts will force the ball a lot more to Brown.
Will that be enough to get the Eagles their 12th win of the season and give the sideline some happy faces before the playoffs?
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