AJ Brown ruled out for Eagles' Wild Card playoff game vs. Bucs
AJ Brown was ruled out for the Philadelphia Eagles’ Monday night playoff game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, according to ESPN’s Adam Schefter.
“Eagles’ WR A.J. Brown, who worked hard in his rehab to try to make it back this week, is out for Monday night’s wild-card matchup vs. the Bucs due to his sprained knee, per sources,” Schefter wrote on Twitter. “Brown has made enough progress that, if the Eagles advance, he could return for the divisional playoff. But he’s out Monday night.”
Brown injured his knee Week 18 against the Giants, an Eagles’ loss, that saw Philadelphia lock into the No. 5 seed after the Dallas Cowboys clinched the NFC East.
Brown missed his second straight practice with the Eagles, Friday. Not only that, Brown appeared to scrub his social media of all Eagles related material, including deactivating his Twitter account.
All is not lost though, Jalen Hurts and DeVonta Smith were full participants at practice with their injuries and are expected to play Monday night. The extra day could give the boost the Eagles need, however, it’s not enough for Brown’s return.
That’s not to say Brown can’t come back for a Divisional Round playoff game next week. But first, the Eagles have defeat Tampa Bay on the road.
Philadelphia went to Tampa in Week 3 and earned the 25-11 win. However, both teams went on different paths this season.
The Bucs finished 9-8 and won the NFC South while the Eagles finished 11-6 following a 10-1 start to the season. The miserable limp to the finish line of the regular season was noteworthy for Philadelphia.
The defending NFC champs saw huge offensive outputs from Brown and others and steamrolled their way to a fast start. However, the struggles began.
The Eagles replaced defensive coordinator Sean Desai with Matt Patricia, who became the de facto DC by taking over play calling duties late in the year.
Not only that, Philadelphia’s offense took a backseat to the first half of the year. Brown did what he could but went down with a knee injury last week.
Now, the Eagles hope to get him back next week should they win. But with the way things are going, head coach Nick Sirianni, Hurts and the rest of the crew are under quite the microscope going into Monday.