Book it: AJ Brown and Eagles ready to turn the page after slow playoff opener

PHILADELPHIA – AJ Brown doesn’t like fiction much. He is not interested in reading about things that are not real. He prefers to find “peace” in his own truth and inner strength, so that his mind does not stray too far from his preferred path.

That’s how he found himself sitting on the sidelines of the Philadelphia Eagles’ wild-card game Sunday afternoon, doing something that seemed completely unusual to the rest of the world when the act was caught on camera. He wasn’t looking at an iPad or going over plays with an assistant coach, and he wasn’t huddled with his teammates preparing for the next series.

I was reading a book called “Inner Excellence” by a self-proclaimed “performance coach” and former baseball player named Jim Murphy. It seemed strange, given the moment. It even looked bad, considering Brown only had one catch and was more of an afterthought in the game plan.

But for him it was just part of his routine: consulting a book that he swears he reads during every game.

“It gives me a sense of peace,” Brown said after the Eagles beat the Green Bay Packers 22-10 at Lincoln Financial Field on Sunday to advance to the divisional round of the playoffs next weekend. “That’s a book I bring to every game. My teammates call it ‘a recipe.’

“That’s just the first time they’ve had me on camera.”

In fact, the timing was perfect for the cameras to focus on him, as this seemed like the type of game where a top receiver like Brown could end up going off the rails. He’s certainly let his frustrations boil over before, whether with the Eagles’ offense or, at times, with his quarterback best friend, Jalen Hurts. He rarely goes full diva like other number one receivers in the NFL. But when there is tension, it is usually not easy for him to hide.

And this sure seemed to be one of those moments. He had just one reception for 10 yards in the game, on a day when everyone in the locker room admitted frustration that his offense struggled. Brown is the type of breaker who can get an offense out of its doldrums. But he was targeted on only three of Hurts’ 21 passes. And there were quite a few times where he looked wide open, but still didn’t get the ball.

But instead of getting angry, he turned to an old friend: a worn paperback copy of “Inner Excellence: Train Your Mind for Extraordinary Performance and the Best Life Possible,” written by a sort of personal trainer for professional golf stars. and other professional athletes from across the sporting spectrum. The book was given to him by Eagles defensive tackle Moro Ojomo, and Brown had obviously already read it well. When he showed it after the game, it was worn, with passages highlighted and sections underlined. Brown had even written his own notes inside the cover, points he always wanted to remember during a game.

“You have a lot of points there,” he said. “It has a lot to do with the mental game. There are a lot of mental parts to it. Because to me the game is mental. And that’s how I refresh every drive. Regardless of whether I score a touchdown or drop a pass, always go back to that book every trip and refocus, block it again.”

To be honest, the entire Eagles team needed help refocusing on a game they probably should have (and could have) won much easier than they did. Their offense, which was so powerful during the regular season (eighth overall, second in carries) could never find a rhythm against the Packers. Saquon Barkley, fresh off his 2,005-yard season, had some big runs early and one very late one, but was often stuck in neutral. And Hurts was erratic, suffering an 0-for-7 stretch midway through the game.

They won largely thanks to four Packers turnovers, including three interceptions by Green Bay quarterback Jordan Love. But the Eagles know they can’t rely on that as the playoffs progress in the coming weeks. Hurts, who hadn’t played in three weeks due to a concussion (and the Eagles had little to play for) looked rusty. Nothing about this Eagles team looked particularly sharp.

And Brown, who said he felt healthy after suffering a knee injury in practice last week, was at the center of it. He was their leading receiver this season with 67 receptions for 1,079 yards and seven touchdowns despite missing four games. Everyone understands that for the Eagles to continue advancing he has to be more than just a blocker and decoy.

You need to get involved.

Brown swore he was not frustrated by his lack of participation. In fact, he seemed excited that even without him, at least as far as statistics were concerned, the Eagles still did enough to win. The defense shut down the Packers and got those three interceptions. Special teams forced a fumble on the opening kickoff and Hurts turned it into a quick 11-yard touchdown pass to Jahan Dotson on a play that seemed to take forever to develop.

And when the Eagles needed a cushion in the third quarter, they got one on a screen pass to tight end Dallas Goedert, who stiff-armed his way down the field for a 24-yard touchdown, shoving the Packers cornerback, Carrington Valentine, three times. the path That, Brown marveled, was “an aggressive dance by grown men.”

It was also the only sign of true Eagles football from the offense throughout the game.

But as Brown learned from reading his self-help book, it’s not about him or what’s already happened. It’s about what could happen if you free your mind from the burden of what went wrong.

“I always refer to the beginning of the book,” Brown said. “It states that if you can have a clear mind and remember that nothing else matters – a clear conscience, nothing matters, negative or positive – and if you are willing to take risks… It also says that if you are humble, you can.” “I won’t be embarrassed. So whatever happens in a game, I’ll stay free and play free, move forward and take risks.”

And he is right. It’s all there in Chapter 1.

“It is a daunting vision, the risky path of our true dreams,” Jacobs writes. “It’s much more comfortable to follow the easier, broader path of less risk, less failure, and more complacency. We don’t like to look at that unknown path of possibilities; it’s too scary. It’s easier to give in to that part of the mind that wants instant gratification and temporary pleasures, to cover up the bigger, scarier picture of what we really want, the sacred moments that come from feeling truly alive.

“In the pursuit of extraordinary performance, it is easy to succumb to anxiety and pressure, because many things are out of your control. However, when you learn to live a fully engaged life, then you can perform at your best. and “Live a life and love the challenge.”

The challenge in this case is obvious. The Eagles are trying to return to the Super Bowl for the second time in three years and win it for the first time in seven years. In the short term, they look to win one more game and advance to another NFC Championship Game. And to do any of that, they’ll need a “fully committed” Brown to get there, and they’ll need to be “fully committed” to him, too.

So everyone needs to learn from what happened on Sunday, assimilate it and move forward without regrets. Brown said he learned that “this team is physical. This team is going to try to find a way to win no matter what the setbacks. We’re just going to try to find a way to win.”

“There’s nothing new there. I wasn’t surprised.”

No, the surprise was only external: how the Eagles survived a relatively poor performance on offense. And it surely came as a big surprise that, just when the world expected Brown to get grumpy, he was reading a book that he swore he carried with him several times while running onto the field during pregame this season. And although the cameras may not have seen him during the 17 regular season games, he insisted on reading the book after each trip.

And if that’s what you need to focus on, it’s better than throwing a helmet at him or yelling at a teammate or just sitting there and holding out in the silence of your own frustrations, wondering why you’re not involved. The lessons from the book must have been sinking in too, as he swore frustration was not on his mind.

“No, I wasn’t frustrated at all,” Brown said. “I thought that’s what you all probably thought. But I wasn’t frustrated. Why do you always think I would be frustrated?”

“I like reading.”

Ralph Vacchiano is an NFL reporter for FOX Sports. He spent the previous six years covering the Giants and Jets for SNY TV in New York, and before that, 16 years covering the Giants and the NFL for the New York Daily News. Follow him on Twitter at @RalphVacchiano.