Philadelphia Eagles star wide receiver A.J. Brown didn’t catch fans’ attention for what he did on the field in the team’s 22-10 Wild Card win over the Green Packer Packers, but he did turn heads for what happened on the bench in the fourth quarter.
With the clock winding down and not much action taking place in the low-scoring game, Brown pulled a book out of nowhere and started reading it.
A calm, cool, collected Brown read a passage from Jim Murphy’s ‘Inner Excellence.’
Just like most of their outings this season, the Eagles’ gameplan was focused around Saquon Barkley and the run game, which meant Brown wasn’t getting much attention. Spectators figured Jalen Hurts’ No. 1 receiving target was trying to stray away from getting frustrated.
But after the game, Brown revealed there was zero frustration behind his lack of targets and how he often reads a book in between Eagles’ offensive drives.
“Ya’ll just caught me at that time,” Brown said. “I’m doing it every drive, regardless if I score a touchdown or drop a pass. It’s something how I re-focus.”
Brown even went as far as to say that he reads the same passage from the book.
“I always revert back to the beginning of the book,” Brown said. “It states that you can just have a clear mind and remember that nothing else matters- a clear conscience- and nothing matters, negative or positive — you’re willing to take risks. And I go back to it and it also says if you’re humble, you can’t be embarrassed. So, no matter what happens in the game or whatever happens, I’m just going to stay free and play free — keep going and taking risks.”
The Eagles now move on to the divisional round of the playoffs and will host the Tampa Bay Buccaneers as long as they beat the Washington Commanders on Sunday night. If the Commanders win, then the Eagles will face the winner of the Los Angeles Rams-Minnesota Vikings Monday night game.