Eagles Coach Responds to AJ Brown’s ‘Conservative’ Claim After Heated Jalen Hurts Argument

A.J. Brown didn’t mince words when he called the Eagles’ offense “conservative,” and his critique deserves more than a shrug from the coaching staff. Sure, Philadelphia is winning games, and there’s logic in avoiding high-risk plays. But this offense isn’t short on firepower. With Brown, Jalen Hurts, DeVonta Smith, Saquon Barkley, and Dallas Goedert on the field, the Eagles have all to strike fast and furious.

“Me, personally, I truly believe, we got so many good players on this team. And at times, you can feel like we’re being conservative,” Brown said. The proof was on display in the second half against the Rams, when Philadelphia made a jaw-dropping comeback. Hurts, suddenly unleashed, completed 17 of 24 passes for 209 yards and three touchdowns. That was a far cry from the first two-and-a-half games of the season. And now even offensive coordinator Kevin Patullo has cleared the air.

“I wouldn’t say conservative is the word,” Patullo said Tuesday when he was asked for his response to the “conservative” label. “I think when those things happen, like we went three-and-out obviously a few times. You look at, ‘Okay, where was the drive starting? What was the breakdown on the play? What happened? How do we stop this? How do we get out of this?'”

The first half against the Rams was sluggish for Philadelphia. Jalen Hurts managed just 4 completions on 8 attempts for 17 yards, while A.J. Brown didn’t record a single catch. But the second half was a different story.

Facing a 26-7 hole early in the third quarter, Hurts finally let it fly. Brown exploded with six catches for 109 yards and a touchdown, while DeVonta Smith added eight receptions for 60 yards and a touchdown.

Patullo added, “So I think when we look back on it, there’s obviously things we can always learn from that, but you don’t go into it saying like, ‘Hey, I got to be really conservative here.’ That’s definitely not something you want to do. I think it’s just a matter of just going forward, learning from those moments, and how to get ourselves out of those situations.”

Given the sudden resurgence in the second half, there was some speculation as to whether Jalen Hurts had completely taken over the play-calling duties from the OC. Head coach Nick Sirianni, however, put an end to the chatter.

“Kevin called the plays in that second half,” Sirianni said. “But make no mistake about it, Jalen does a great job of communicating. Jalen sees the field really, really well. He can come back and tell you what happened without even looking at the picture.” 

So was it communication that was going on between the star quarterback and Patullo on the sidelines?

Jalen Hurts on the heated exchange with Kevin Patullo

By halftime, fans were booing, frustrated with the team’s sluggish performance and Hurts’ first-half fumble. The Rams held a commanding 19-point lead in the early part of the second half, leaving the Eagles scrambling.

Hurts was visibly animated on the sideline late in the third quarter, engaging in a heated discussion with Kevin Patullo after a 9-yard touchdown pass to A.J. Brown cut Los Angeles’ lead to 26-21. When asked about the exchange post-game, Hurts was measured but telling: “It was a complete team effort. … If it meant getting out of character (in a) given a situation, it’s about doing it. Only thing we ever care about is finding a way to win the game.”

The quarterback’s response hinted at some frustration with the play-calling, which wouldn’t be surprising given his first two games yielded just 253 passing yards and no touchdowns.

Hurts’ best moment came late, engineering a 17-play, 91-yard drive that included critical third-down completions: a 25-yard strike to Brown and a 10-yard pass to DeVonta Smith, who capped the drive with a 4-yard touchdown to give Philadelphia a 27-26 lead. Hurts finished the game 22 of 32 for 226 yards, showing that resilience hasn’t left the 27-year-old yet.