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The DiCecco Daily: An Eagles Insider's Perspective Covering A.J. Brown · Inside the Birds: A Philadelphia Eagles Podcast

• 0:08
  Speaker 2: What's going on? Everyone?
• 0:09
  Speaker 1: Welcome into another episode of the check O'deli. It's Andrew
• 0:12
  Speaker 1: de Checko, Eagles beat reporter for Inside the Birds dot Com,
• 0:15
  Speaker 1: here with you, and we finally have a resolution to
• 0:18
  Speaker 1: the month's long speculation. The Eagles have sent wide receiver
• 0:23
  Speaker 1: aj Brown to the New England Patriots in exchange for
• 0:26
  Speaker 1: a twenty twenty eight first round pick and a twenty
• 0:29
  Speaker 1: twenty seven fifth round pick. And I think that both
• 0:35
  Speaker 1: sides got pretty decent value there. They look at the
• 0:39
  Speaker 1: Eagles and they got a first round pick. It's not
• 0:41
  Speaker 1: a twenty twenty seven first round pick, but it is
• 0:44
  Speaker 1: a first round pick for a player who's twenty nine
• 0:47
  Speaker 1: years old, or he will be twenty nine years old
• 0:49
  Speaker 1: this month.
• 0:50
  Speaker 2: And the Patriots get a.
• 0:53
  Speaker 1: Top end wide receiver that they've long coveted who will
• 0:56
  Speaker 1: pair opposite Romeo Dobbs, who they signed in free agency
• 0:59
  Speaker 1: as they look to reimagine their passing attack and give
• 1:02
  Speaker 1: Drake may a really potent one two punch as they
• 1:05
  Speaker 1: look to try and make another run at a Super
• 1:08
  Speaker 1: Bowl after surprisingly getting there last season. But I know
• 1:12
  Speaker 1: Adam and Jeff already have you covered with the recap
• 1:16
  Speaker 1: of the aftermath of the AJ Brown trade. But I'm
• 1:18
  Speaker 1: here today to talk to you guys about my four
• 1:23
  Speaker 1: years covering AJ Brown, because I've been there since he
• 1:27
  Speaker 1: got to Philadelphia, all the way through right now where
• 1:32
  Speaker 1: he's now been traded, and it's been a pleasure. It's
• 1:35
  Speaker 1: been an absolute pleasure covering AJ Brown. And look, I
• 1:40
  Speaker 1: think he's often misunderstood. I think that's an appropriate word
• 1:44
  Speaker 1: to characterize him. But you talk to any player or
• 1:50
  Speaker 1: any figure in that building, and AJ was beloved.
• 1:54
  Speaker 2: He was valued, highly regarded, and a leader.
• 1:58
  Speaker 1: And when I say leader, I know those listening are
• 2:02
  Speaker 1: going to quickly say, well, what about the social media post?
• 2:05
  Speaker 2: And you know some of the some.
• 2:09
  Speaker 1: Of the other you know theatrics that come with AJ
• 2:11
  Speaker 1: if you will. When I say leadership, I'm talking about
• 2:16
  Speaker 1: someone who leads by example, for one, But I'm more
• 2:19
  Speaker 1: so speaking to his willingness to express some of the
• 2:24
  Speaker 1: concerns of the offense when he wasn't the only one
• 2:28
  Speaker 1: who was frustrated. He was the one who was willing
• 2:31
  Speaker 1: to speak up on behalf seemingly of the group and
• 2:36
  Speaker 1: really get in front of the offensive shortcomings so that
• 2:39
  Speaker 1: it didn't become a problem.
• 2:41
  Speaker 2: Come postseason, and it did.
• 2:44
  Speaker 1: Those problems that AJ was referring to or alluding to,
• 2:48
  Speaker 1: they surfaced. They continued all throughout the year, and they
• 2:52
  Speaker 1: surfaced in you know, a high leverage moment in the
• 2:55
  Speaker 1: postseason against the forty nine ers. Now AJ didn't have
• 2:58
  Speaker 1: a great game against the forty nine, but I don't
• 3:00
  Speaker 1: think it's fair to question his effort. I will never
• 3:04
  Speaker 1: question a player's effort. That's not my place. I'm not
• 3:07
  Speaker 1: in a position to do so. Do I think that
• 3:11
  Speaker 1: the frustrations sort of boiled over and contributed to the
• 3:16
  Speaker 1: on field focus lapses and things like that. Absolutely, but
• 3:19
  Speaker 1: that's the human element. But Aj Brown as someone who's
• 3:25
  Speaker 1: viewed as a as a leader and one of the
• 3:28
  Speaker 1: franchise pillars for the last four seasons, He's not going
• 3:33
  Speaker 1: out there actively looking to shortchange his teammates and deprive
• 3:36
  Speaker 1: them of an opportunity to win football games.
• 3:39
  Speaker 2: That's not what he's about.
• 3:40
  Speaker 1: And maybe I have a unique perspective on this because
• 3:44
  Speaker 1: I've covered AJ for his time in Philadelphia, but he's
• 3:48
  Speaker 1: always been someone who's gonna lay it on the line
• 3:52
  Speaker 1: and give one hundred and ten percent. I do believe
• 3:55
  Speaker 1: that the frustration certainly contributed to some of the uncharacter
• 4:00
  Speaker 1: drops in opportune spots. But he is someone that I
• 4:04
  Speaker 1: think is really unique in the sense that everyone is
• 4:07
  Speaker 1: motivated by different things and everyone's wired differently.
• 4:12
  Speaker 2: Right, Aj is the.
• 4:16
  Speaker 1: Ultimate competitor, right He wants to compete at the highest level.
• 4:20
  Speaker 1: He mentioned on Instagram in right or right before the
• 4:25
  Speaker 1: parade after winning a championship that you know, maybe it
• 4:29
  Speaker 1: wasn't all it was cracked up to. Be His biggest
• 4:32
  Speaker 1: thrill is competing the process, lining up against another corner
• 4:37
  Speaker 1: and watching him drop his head because they couldn't mess
• 4:40
  Speaker 1: with him. Those are and I'm paraphrasing the comments that
• 4:44
  Speaker 1: he wrote in that Instagram post after the Eagles won
• 4:47
  Speaker 1: the Super.
• 4:47
  Speaker 2: Bowl, And that might be a little bit head scratching.
• 4:50
  Speaker 1: The sum I might be a little curious and a
• 4:52
  Speaker 1: little odd, and I guess on its face, it sort
• 4:56
  Speaker 1: of is you've just reached the apex of your p
• 5:00
  Speaker 1: You're a Super Bowl champion, and you're ready to get
• 5:02
  Speaker 1: back to work. But that's also what makes AJ Brown great.
• 5:07
  Speaker 1: That's also what makes AJ Brown an elite player and
• 5:09
  Speaker 1: one of the best at his position. And you know
• 5:13
  Speaker 1: you can't help but see the competitive nature those juices
• 5:18
  Speaker 1: flowing in practice. I go back to the year in
• 5:21
  Speaker 1: which Quinya Mitchell was a rookie and AJ Brown was
• 5:24
  Speaker 1: going against him. Those were intense, high quality reps, and
• 5:28
  Speaker 1: Quinyon gave him a run for his money and made
• 5:31
  Speaker 1: him work for things. And you could tell that Aj
• 5:34
  Speaker 1: respected that. There was a mutual respect there. He likes
• 5:38
  Speaker 1: being challenged and things like that. And when he goes
• 5:41
  Speaker 1: out there and he puts in the work that he
• 5:43
  Speaker 1: does and he goes onto the field, he wants to
• 5:46
  Speaker 1: have that sort of reflected in production. And he's had
• 5:49
  Speaker 1: a lot of productive seasons in Philadelphia. He's had four
• 5:52
  Speaker 1: consecutive one thousand yard seasons, the first player in franchise
• 5:55
  Speaker 1: history to accomplish such a feat. But for AJ and
• 6:02
  Speaker 1: his motivations, yes, he wants to win, but he wants
• 6:06
  Speaker 1: to be a focal point of the offense on a
• 6:08
  Speaker 1: consistent basis, meaning not just a game where you're getting
• 6:12
  Speaker 1: nine or ten targets. Maybe there's another game where he's
• 6:15
  Speaker 1: getting two targets and sort of an afterthought in the offense.
• 6:19
  Speaker 1: He works hard for a reason. He's obsessed with the
• 6:22
  Speaker 1: process and the grind and he wants to go out
• 6:24
  Speaker 1: there and contribute to winning, and when that wasn't always
• 6:29
  Speaker 1: the case, you could see the frustrations boil over. But
• 6:34
  Speaker 1: what I can tell you is he has been a
• 6:37
  Speaker 1: consummate teammate. Listen to what Saquon Barkley had to say
• 6:41
  Speaker 1: about him just last week at the podium. That's a
• 6:45
  Speaker 1: common sentiment that you're going to hear from Eagles teammates.
• 6:51
  Speaker 1: I remember talking to Brittain Covey about him in the
• 6:53
  Speaker 1: past and different receivers and his voice in the wide
• 6:58
  Speaker 1: receiver room, how he's helped younger players along, how he
• 7:03
  Speaker 1: leads by example. I think he's a misunderstood player and
• 7:07
  Speaker 1: a misunderstood person first and foremost, because it doesn't fit
• 7:13
  Speaker 1: the prototype of what's the consensus believes a player should
• 7:18
  Speaker 1: be motivated by. Sometimes there's more to it than winning.
• 7:21
  Speaker 1: He's on a Hall of Fame trajectory, and in Philadelphia,
• 7:28
  Speaker 1: if you're aj you're probably looking at the situation and
• 7:30
  Speaker 1: wondering if that's going to be the best for you
• 7:32
  Speaker 1: and align with your goals and your views, or if
• 7:35
  Speaker 1: there's going to be another situation where you feel you
• 7:37
  Speaker 1: might thrive and you might be utilized a little bit
• 7:41
  Speaker 1: more in a high volume passing attack. Look, the Eagles
• 7:43
  Speaker 1: have done a lot of winning with Aj Brown here,
• 7:46
  Speaker 1: and so yes, it is curious that you would want out,
• 7:49
  Speaker 1: especially knowing that a new offense is being implemented. But
• 7:53
  Speaker 1: I still don't view this as a high volume passing attack.
• 7:57
  Speaker 1: But this is a thoughtful player. This is someone who
• 8:00
  Speaker 1: is respected immensely, and this, I think it speaks volumes
• 8:05
  Speaker 1: that despite all of the social media posts last season
• 8:09
  Speaker 1: and the frustration, the passive aggressive comments, which by the way,
• 8:13
  Speaker 1: I don't agree with, there are other avenues in which
• 8:16
  Speaker 1: you can get your point across having conversations.
• 8:20
  Speaker 2: But to me, it felt like.
• 8:23
  Speaker 1: That was the last line of that was the last
• 8:27
  Speaker 1: resort that he could do, that he could go about
• 8:30
  Speaker 1: trying to get his point across. And yeah, I mean
• 8:34
  Speaker 1: in a locker room that's not built to sustain that
• 8:37
  Speaker 1: kind of pressure or that kind of I guess if
• 8:40
  Speaker 1: you want to call it turbulence, yeah, that could cause
• 8:42
  Speaker 1: some friction, But to me, it didn't seem that way.
• 8:46
  Speaker 1: It didn't seem like it was causing any sort of
• 8:49
  Speaker 1: splintering or.
• 8:50
  Speaker 2: Anything like that.
• 8:51
  Speaker 1: When you have a locker room that has strong culture
• 8:54
  Speaker 1: and strong leadership.
• 8:56
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I think that it's built to withstand that.
• 8:59
  Speaker 1: Now, it's not fair the teammates had to answer questions
• 9:01
  Speaker 1: about him and things of that nature. That's never a
• 9:05
  Speaker 1: good thing. You don't want anyone to have to speak
• 9:07
  Speaker 1: on someone else's behalf. But AJ after the Los Angeles
• 9:13
  Speaker 1: Chargers game on December eighth, which ended up the press
• 9:16
  Speaker 1: conference ended up leading into December ninth, at his locker,
• 9:19
  Speaker 1: that was the last time that we heard from him.
• 9:22
  Speaker 1: That was the last time that he spoke, and my impression,
• 9:28
  Speaker 1: my belief is that he poured everything out in that presser.
• 9:34
  Speaker 1: He didn't have I think there was a critical drop
• 9:36
  Speaker 1: that he had in that game. I don't have the
• 9:38
  Speaker 1: best recollection of that particular game other than there was
• 9:41
  Speaker 1: a litany of turnovers. But it seemed to me that
• 9:46
  Speaker 1: he felt that the best course of action was to
• 9:48
  Speaker 1: not speak, not cause any other issues, and just kind
• 9:52
  Speaker 1: of go about his business quietly and.
• 9:57
  Speaker 2: Just be you know, just just go about his business.
• 10:00
  Speaker 1: And so it's unfortunate because we never got a chance
• 10:03
  Speaker 1: to speak to AJ in the aftermath of that final
• 10:07
  Speaker 1: game where he had a couple drops in that forty
• 10:12
  Speaker 1: nine Ers game, we get to the locker room and
• 10:14
  Speaker 1: he's shaking hands with teammates and he's on his way out.
• 10:16
  Speaker 1: We never got a chance to speak to him, but
• 10:20
  Speaker 1: he's been an absolute pleasure.
• 10:22
  Speaker 2: To speak to.
• 10:23
  Speaker 1: He's thoughtful, he's funny, and that's been aj for all
• 10:29
  Speaker 1: four years. And I think back to the comment that
• 10:31
  Speaker 1: he made after the Carolina Panthers game where he said
• 10:35
  Speaker 1: passing as a.
• 10:36
  Speaker 2: Problem with the offense.
• 10:37
  Speaker 1: A lot of it can be taken as a perceipt,
• 10:39
  Speaker 1: as a slight to the quarterback Jalen Hurts, but I
• 10:43
  Speaker 1: also look at just the offense as a whole. It
• 10:46
  Speaker 1: wasn't equipped to support a productive offense for the long term.
• 10:52
  Speaker 1: And I think a lot of what he was doing,
• 10:54
  Speaker 1: and there's again there's other methods that you can go
• 10:56
  Speaker 1: about getting your point across. Was to try and get
• 10:59
  Speaker 1: in front of things, to try to be the squeaky
• 11:02
  Speaker 1: wheel that gets the grease and.
• 11:07
  Speaker 2: Put that on the radar.
• 11:08
  Speaker 1: Your your star player isn't happy that the offense is
• 11:11
  Speaker 1: looking like this, and he mentioned you can't keep slapping
• 11:15
  Speaker 1: a band aid on it, and that was something that
• 11:17
  Speaker 1: he said that I thought was really notable because it
• 11:20
  Speaker 1: felt like that's what the Eagles were doing.
• 11:22
  Speaker 2: They were winning football games.
• 11:23
  Speaker 1: And when AJ was making, you know, making those comments,
• 11:27
  Speaker 1: you heard, well, the Eagles are winning football games.
• 11:29
  Speaker 2: Nothing to see here.
• 11:30
  Speaker 1: Well, a lot of what AJ was saying was one
• 11:32
  Speaker 1: hundred percent accurate because as the season were on, the
• 11:36
  Speaker 1: same issues were surfacing.
• 11:38
  Speaker 2: Nothing was changing.
• 11:40
  Speaker 1: And that's where I believe that once he saw that,
• 11:45
  Speaker 1: once he understood that the offense was going to be
• 11:47
  Speaker 1: what it was, there was nothing left to say. Now,
• 11:51
  Speaker 1: I would have loved to have had an opportunity to
• 11:54
  Speaker 1: speak to him, to hear from them a final time
• 11:57
  Speaker 1: before he exited and goes to New England. But I
• 12:00
  Speaker 1: think he's one of the more unique talents that I've
• 12:03
  Speaker 1: ever covered, and a wholly misunderstood figure when you look
• 12:07
  Speaker 1: back on the realm of Philadelphia athletes, and I understand
• 12:12
  Speaker 1: that it's disappointing if you're listening and you're an Eagles
• 12:15
  Speaker 1: fan that it wasn't able to work out. And whenever
• 12:18
  Speaker 1: you have a player who wants to leave whatever it is,
• 12:22
  Speaker 1: your favorite team, naturally you're gonna.
• 12:25
  Speaker 2: Feel a little sour about it.
• 12:27
  Speaker 1: But just remember this, AJ Brown gave one hundred percent,
• 12:31
  Speaker 1: And there are moments and I go back to what
• 12:33
  Speaker 1: I said, I will never question another person's effort.
• 12:37
  Speaker 2: I'm not in position to do so. That's not my place.
• 12:40
  Speaker 1: There were moments he would like to have back, but
• 12:42
  Speaker 1: I don't think you can question his effort when you
• 12:44
  Speaker 1: look at the full body of work of what he's
• 12:46
  Speaker 1: accomplished in his career.
• 12:47
  Speaker 2: And laying things on the line for his teammates.
• 12:50
  Speaker 1: You're not beloved by your teammates if you are someone
• 12:53
  Speaker 1: who subscribes to sort of not giving, you know, going
• 12:58
  Speaker 1: half hearted, because't going your way. That's just not the
• 13:02
  Speaker 1: reality of the situation. I view it more as a
• 13:05
  Speaker 1: frustration that manifested in a lack of focus, especially later
• 13:10
  Speaker 1: in the season. I'm not excusing it. Please understand that
• 13:13
  Speaker 1: I'm not excusing it, and I don't agree with the
• 13:15
  Speaker 1: course of action that he took to get his point across.
• 13:18
  Speaker 2: There are other ways to do it.
• 13:20
  Speaker 1: And it kind of felt like this is just something
• 13:24
  Speaker 1: that inevitably ran its course and we'll see what happens
• 13:29
  Speaker 1: in New England. But the Eagles, this is a huge
• 13:32
  Speaker 1: loss for them. They lost who I believe is a
• 13:35
  Speaker 1: premier receiver in this league. Still going to be twenty
• 13:38
  Speaker 1: nine years old later this month. But I think he
• 13:42
  Speaker 1: has a couple of years of elite production in him.
• 13:46
  Speaker 1: Will he get what he's looking for in terms of
• 13:48
  Speaker 1: production in New England? Perhaps I think that offense is
• 13:52
  Speaker 1: more equipped to support what he's looking for, what he's
• 13:55
  Speaker 1: looking to achieve at this stage of his career. But
• 13:58
  Speaker 1: he's won a championship, he scored touchdowns in both Super
• 14:01
  Speaker 1: Bowls in which the Eagles appeared. He's been an All
• 14:04
  Speaker 1: Pro four one thousand yard seasons, three hundred and thirty
• 14:08
  Speaker 1: nine catches. That was the best period of wide receiver
• 14:15
  Speaker 1: play that the Eagles may have ever seen in franchise history.
• 14:22
  Speaker 1: And the Super Bowl doesn't happen without AJ Brown. So
• 14:26
  Speaker 1: I think it's important to put everything into perspective and
• 14:29
  Speaker 1: into context. I understand that there's a lot of frustrated
• 14:31
  Speaker 1: folks out there, but this is the reality of the situation.
• 14:34
  Speaker 1: And this is just my view of the AJ Brown
• 14:39
  Speaker 1: tenure in Philadelphia as a media member, as someone who's
• 14:42
  Speaker 1: covered him. He was an absolute pleasure, and I do
• 14:45
  Speaker 1: believe that he was misunderstood. And while I'm not going
• 14:48
  Speaker 1: to go back and rehash everything that I said, I
• 14:51
  Speaker 1: hope that you all get the gist of what I'm
• 14:52
  Speaker 1: trying to say, and from my vantage point, it was
• 14:57
  Speaker 1: it was a fun four years and learned a lot
• 15:00
  Speaker 1: covering AJ Brown. I learned a lot about the person,
• 15:03
  Speaker 1: about what makes him tick. And we'll see if he
• 15:07
  Speaker 1: goes out to New England and gets what it is
• 15:09
  Speaker 1: that he's looking for. But I can tell you this,
• 15:11
  Speaker 1: I have those joint practices highlighted and circled. I already
• 15:15
  Speaker 1: did because it's the highlight of my summer. I love
• 15:18
  Speaker 1: and I live for joint practices. But it ratcheted up
• 15:21
  Speaker 1: just a little bit once this trade was consummated, and
• 15:26
  Speaker 1: we'll see what happens in August when the two sides meet.
• 15:30
  Speaker 1: The matchups against Quinna Mitchell and AJ Brown once again,
• 15:35
  Speaker 1: we'll be fascinating to watch and I.
• 15:37
  Speaker 2: Will have all of that covered for you.
• 15:39
  Speaker 1: But those are just my thoughts here on this Monday evening,
• 15:43
  Speaker 1: in the aftermath and the hours after the AJ Brown trade.
• 15:46
  Speaker 1: I hope you enjoyed the podcast and we'll have all
• 15:50
  Speaker 1: the OTA updates for you tomorrow. I'll be doing a
• 15:52
  Speaker 1: podcast with Jeff and Adam, but for right now, that's
• 15:55
  Speaker 1: going to do it for this episode of the Checho Daily.
• 15:58
  Speaker 1: I'm Andrew de Checko. I'll catch you all on the
• 16:01
  Speaker 1: next one h