Book it: A.J. Brown, Eagles ready to turn the page after sluggish playoff opener

Ralph Vacchiano

NFL Reporter

PHILADELPHIA — A.J. Brown isn’t really into fiction. He’s not interested in reading about things that are not real. He prefers finding “peace” in his own truth and his inner strength, so his mind doesn’t get too far off of his preferred path.

That’s how he found himself sitting on the sidelines late in the Philadelphia Eagles‘ wild-card game on Sunday afternoon, doing something that appeared completely unusual to the rest of the world when the act was caught on camera. He wasn’t pouring over an iPad or going over plays with an assistant coach, and he wasn’t huddling with teammates getting ready for the next series.

He was reading a book called “Inner Excellence” by a self-described “Performance Coach” and former baseball player named Jim Murphy. It seemed odd, given the timing. It even looked bad, considering that Brown had only one catch and was mostly an afterthought in the game plan.

Eagles’ A.J. Brown reads book on sideline during win vs. Packers

But to him it was just part of his routine — turning to a book he swears he reads during every single 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 playoff round next weekend. “That’s a book I bring every single game. My teammates call it ‘a recipe.’

“That’s just the first time you all got me on camera.”

The timing was perfect for the cameras to zoom in on him, actually, since this seemed to be the kind of game where a top receiver like Brown might end up going off the rails. He’s certainly let his frustrations boil over before, either with the Eagles’ offense or sometimes with his best-friend quarterback, Jalen Hurts. He rarely goes full-diva like some other No. 1 receivers around the NFL. But when there’s tension, it’s not usually easy for him to hide.

And this sure seemed to be one of those times. He had just one catch for 10 yards in the game, on a day when everyone in the locker room admitted to a frustration that their offense struggled. Brown is the kind of game-breaker that can shake an offense out of its doldrums. But he was the target on only three of Hurts’ 21 passes. And there were quite a few times when he appeared wide open, yet still didn’t get the ball.

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

A.J. Brown’s copy of “Inner Excellence” by Jim Murphy.

“It’s got a lot of points in there,” he said. “It’s a lot (about the) mental game. There’s a lot of mental parts about it. Because for me the game is mental. And it’s how I refresh every drive. Regardless of if I score a touchdown or I drop a pass, I always go back to that book every drive and refocus, re-lock back in.”

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

They won in large part because of 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 push onward over the next few weeks. Hurts, who hadn’t played in three weeks due to a concussion (and the Eagles having 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 that. He was their best receiver this season with 67 catches for 1,079 yards and seven touchdowns despite missing four games. Everyone understands that for the Eagles to keep advancing he has to be more than just a blocker and a decoy.

He needs to be involved.

Brown swore he wasn’t frustrated by his lack of involvement. In fact, he sounded thrilled that even without him — at least as far as the stat sheet is concerned — the Eagles still did enough to win. The defense shut the Packers down and got those three interceptions. The special teams forced a fumble on the opening kickoff and Hurts turned that 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 off Packers cornerback Carrington Valentine three times along the way. That, Brown marveled, was “aggressive, grown-man ball.”

It was also about the only sign of true Eagles football from the offense for the entire game.

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

“I always refer back to the beginning of the book,” Brown said. “It states that if you can just have a clear mind and remember that nothing else matters — a clear consciousness, nothing matters negative or positive — and if you’re willing to take risks … It also says if you’re humble you can’t be embarrassed. So no matter what happens in a game I’m just going to stay free and play free, keep going, take risks.”

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

“It’s a daunting view, the risky path of our true dreams,” Jacobs writes. “It’s much more comfortable to follow the easier, wider route of less risk, less failure and more self-indulgence. We don’t like to look at that unknown path of possibility; 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’s easy to succumb to anxiety and pressure, because so much is out of your control. When you learn to live a life that is fully engaged, however, then you can perform your best and live a life and love the challenge.”

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

So they all need to learn from what happened on Sunday, absorb it and move on with no regrets. Brown said he learned that “This team is physical. This team is going to try to find a way to win regardless of the hiccups. We’re just going to try to find a way to win.

“There’s nothing new there. It didn’t surprise me.”

No, the surprise was only on the outside at how the Eagles survived a relatively poor performance on offense. And there was surely plenty of surprise that, just as the world was expecting Brown to sulk, he was reading a book he swore he has carried with him several times as he’s run onto the field during pregame this season. And while the cameras may have missed it during all 17 games over the regular season, he insisted he reads the book after every drive.

And if that’s what he needs to focus, it’s better than throwing a helmet or yelling at a teammate or just sitting and stewing in the silence of his own frustrations, wondering why he’s not involved. The lessons of the book must be sinking in too, since he swore frustration wasn’t on his mind.

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

“I like to read.”

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.