Don’t get it twisted. A.J. Brown enjoyed winning the Super Bowl.
He enjoyed celebrating in the Eagles’ winning locker room at the Superdome after their 40-22 win over the Chiefs. And he really enjoyed the parade on Broad Street.
“The parade was very special,” Brown said this week ahead of Eagles OTAs. “I celebrated it and it was very fun. But after that moment, it was back to work, back to trying to find new ways to get better.”
That’s not lip service from Brown. In fact, the Eagles’ star receiver surprised fans with an Instagram post on Feb. 12 trying to express his feelings after reaching the mountaintop. He thought he would feel fulfilled by winning a Super Bowl but his personal experience was different.
This week, Brown admitted that this realization surprised him some too.
“It did,” Brown said. “Because coming into the league, we were taught we’re playing for this reason. We’re playing for this trophy. And once we got the trophy, it was just like I thought everything would be fulfilled, like the hard work and everything. But no, it’s the journey. It’s the journey that matters the most and that means the most. Because those are the moments you look back at with your teammates that you’re spending time with and going to war, you’re suffering together and you’re winning together.
“That’s the beautiful moments in it. The trophy, we can’t take the trophy home. But it’s cool that, that’s forever in the history books. But we’re going to remember the moments more than the ring.”
Brown has been busy this offseason. He gave the commencement speech at the Ole Miss graduation and got engaged to his longtime girlfriend in the most extravagant way imaginable with a little help from music superstar John Legend.
But he has also already been back in the film room trying to get better and it didn’t take long for him to get there.
“The process is always the same, honestly, regardless of whether we won or not,” Brown said. “It’s watching film, trying to rediscover yourself and to get better and find new ways to get better. Because you have to grow in this league. If you don’t, you’ll get exposed. As a team, just growing, pushing each other each and every day. Not worrying about the results at the moment but just worrying about the effort.”
Brown, 27, is already one of the best receivers in the NFL. In fact, PFF just ranked Brown as the No. 1 receiver in the NFL. He missed a few games with injury in 2024 but still managed to have 67 catches for 1,079 yards and 7 touchdowns for a run-heavy offense.
The Eagles finished the 2024 regular season with the No. 2-ranked rushing offense in the NFL but were 29th in passing. Both Brown and Jalen Hurts this week spoke about creating this iteration of the Eagles’ offense and both acknowledged that it could look different.
Even though he is already a top receiver, Brown said he’s focused on getting better this offseason. First, he had to identify what needed work.
“It always boils down to just watching film and you just take notes,” he said. “You just take notes of what you didn’t do really well last year that may have snuck through the cracks that nobody ever realized but you know deep down. Everybody knows their weaknesses and their strengths. You’re just trying to find new ways to pick a few things and you focus on that in the summer and during OTAs.”
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