Eagles News: A.J. Brown Reportedly Expected to Play vs. Packers amid Knee Injury
Scott Polacek@@ScottPolacek
Featured Columnist IVJanuary 9, 2025
The Philadelphia Eagles reportedly expect to have wide receiver A.J. Brown available for Sunday's playoff game against the Green Bay Packers, though he may be less than 100 percent.
According to the Philadelphia Inquirer's Jeff McLane, "the expectation" is that Brown will play despite not being present at the start of Thursday's practice. NBC Philadelphia's John Clark and The Athletic's Brooks Kubena added Brown is resting on Thursday as part of a maintenance plan, and his availability is not in doubt.
Jeff McLane @Jeff_McLaneA little more on A.J. Brown:<br><br>He will be DNP for practice today. The <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Eagles?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Eagles</a> are limiting his workload so he's as close to 100 percent as possible by Sunday. <a href="https://t.co/toprX0Uhie">https://t.co/toprX0Uhie</a>
Brown was listed as a limited participant in Wednesday's practice with a knee/rest designation.
Brown isn't the only injury the Eagles are monitoring ahead of the playoffs.
Quarterback Jalen Hurts returned to practice Wednesday for the first time since he suffered a concussion during the Dec. 22 loss to the Washington Commanders. That means he missed two games and two weeks of practice, although his return is surely a welcome sign.
So is the news that Brown is expected to play, as Philadelphia wields one of the league's most dangerous offenses when all of its weapons are healthy and on the field.
Green Bay will face the same predicament all of Philadelphia's foes did this season when it has to decide whether to stack the box to account for Saquon Barkley and Hurts' running ability or devote additional attention to Brown and DeVonta Smith on the outside.
The Packers struggled with that in the season opener when they lost 34-29 and allowed Hurts to throw for 278 yards and two touchdowns while Barkley accounted for 109 rushing yards and three scores.
Brown (5 catches for 119 yards and one touchdown) and Smith (seven catches for 84 yards) also played well in that victory.
It kickstarted Brown's third straight year with more than 1,000 receiving yards for the Eagles. He posted 67 catches for 1,079 yards and seven touchdowns in 13 games and is one reason the team won the NFC East title and clinched the No. 2 seed in the NFC.
Now a healthy Philadelphia squad will look to parlay that momentum it built in the regular season into a deep playoff run.