The Eagles are going for their 10th win in a row Sunday against the Pittsburgh Steelers, and yet they're also trying to fend off dysfunction.
After a week that featured credible speculation about the state of the relationship between Jalen Hurts and A.J. Brown — which Brandon Graham, the longest-tenured player on the team, poured gasoline on during a radio spot — the Eagles apparently had a team meeting to clear the air. FOX's Jay Glazer provided the details:
The latest from @JayGlazer on Bill Belichick, the relationship between Jalen Hurts & A.J. Brown, and how Pittsburgh got the most out of Russell Wilson this season.
Plus, more on the situation involving 49ers' De'Vondre Campbell, who elected not to go into Thursday's game vs LA. pic.twitter.com/VtXDfgFv5T
Glazer is arguably the most reliable insider in sports. He doesn't break as many stories as some of the other national insiders, but when he does, you can take it to the bank. He's as reliable as it gets. So you can bet this information is accurate.
Does this mean that there was never any tension between Brown and Hurts and that it was a media creation based off of Graham misspeaking? Of course not. Brown was asked after last Sunday's narrow win over the Carolina Panthers what needs to improve about the offense and he said "passing." Graham, before sort of walking it back, was pretty open in his weekly show on SportsRadio 94 WIP about the need for Brown and Hurts — specifically the former — to hash things out behind closed doors.
At the same time, if the Eagles are able to rally around this and use it to convince themselves that the world is against them, so be it. There's a certain amount of delusion that's needed to be a professional athlete, and if Brown has 100+ receiving yards today because the Eagles make an emphasis to get him involved early, they'll be better for it.