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Tim McManus, ESPN Staff Writer
PHILADELPHIA — Eagles veteran defensive end Brandon Graham told ESPN he took his comments about teammates Jalen Hurts and A.J. Brown too far during a radio appearance Monday night.
Responding to Brown’s criticism of the passing game following Sunday’s narrow win over the Carolina Panthers, Graham emphasized the importance of hashing things out internally rather than through the media during his weekly radio show on 94 WIP. That’s when he suggested Hurts and Brown aren’t tight the way they once were.
“The person that’s complaining needs to be accountable,” Graham said. “I don’t know the whole story, but I know that [Hurts] is trying and [Brown] could be a little better with how he responds to things. They were friends before this but things have changed and I understand that because life happens. But it’s the business side, that we have to make sure the personal doesn’t get in the way of the business.”
Graham was reacting to Brown’s terse postgame comments, in which he said “passing” was what the offense needs to improve on and that “there’s not too much conversation” between he and Hurts during the game to troubleshoot when the pass game isn’t fully clicking.
“I made a mistake and I assumed that it was something that it wasn’t,” Graham told ESPN. “I just want to win so bad that I don’t just want to use the media when we need to talk about something and we can fix the problem ourselves. I didn’t add to it in a good light so that’s my bad.
“I just assumed and it made me out to look even worse because I had it all wrong and now people are going to run with that part. I really just want to win, man, and I want brothers to be able to just hash it out.”
Graham added that he will apologize to both Hurts and Brown for his comments.
The Eagles are winners of nine straight games and improved to 11-2 with their 22-16 victory over Carolina. The performance was not up to the team’s standards, however, particularly in the passing game.
Hurts ended 14-of-21 for 108 yards with a pair of touchdowns through the air. Brown was not targeted until late in the second quarter. He sprung open multiple occasions for what could have been explosive plays but the ball didn’t go his way. Following a three-and-out in the first half, Brown threw his helmet down when he got to the sideline.
Asked what was missing in the pass game, fellow receiver DeVonta Smith said, “Being on the same page.”
“Thinking the same. Seeing the right signals,” Smith said, later clarifying that he was talking about this game specifically. “Just going out there and making it work.”
Added Hurts: “I think [the Panthers] did a good job; I think we did a bad job. That starts with me, how I execute. Ultimately, you yearn and I yearn for better synchronization, for a more complementary style of ball, in a sense.”
The Eagles have relied heavily on MVP candidate Saquon Barkley and a ground game that ranks No. 1 in rushing attempts (473) and yards (190.5 per game). The flip side is that they are dead last in passing attempts (328) and have not established much of a rhythm through the air.
Brown said it is “incredibly tough” to get into a rhythm as a receiver when the offense isn’t passing the ball much.
Brown and the team have experienced high levels of success since he was acquired via trade from the Tennessee Titans in April 2022. The Eagles went to the Super Bowl in his first year in Philly and have won double-digit games three times in as many seasons. On Sunday, the Eagles clinched a playoff spot once again. Brown went over 1,400 yards passing with Hurts the previous two campaigns. He has 836 yards and four touchdowns this season, having missed three games at the beginning of the year with a hamstring injury.
Brown and Hurts’ relationship dates back to when Hurts tried to recruit Brown out of high school to come to Alabama. They remained tight through the years, and Hurts is even the godfather to Brown’s daughter, Jersee.
There have been bumps in the road despite the overall team success, including last season when the team collapsed with a 1-6 finish — a period marked by outward frustration from Brown and others and a disconnect between Hurts and coach Nick Sirianni that factored into the offense’s lack of identity.
With so many things going right for the Eagles this season, Graham said his intent was to ensure the team was handling its business the right way.
“I wasn’t trying to be divisive. I just didn’t want us to use the media in a bad way,” he said. “And that starts with me, too. I can’t do that either. If I’ve got something, I’ve got to go to the people, too, instead of just feeding it like I did.”