A.J. Brown offers a “special” examination of an Eagles player who is returning from a gambling suspension.
After a very poor 2023–24 season, head coach Nick Sirianni and the Philadelphia Eagles are currently in the midst of what looks to be a crucial summer for the team’s future path. Like they did in the previous season, the Eagles began 2023–24 hot and quickly found themselves as the only team still unbeaten a few weeks into the season. Nevertheless, the team’s output eventually collapsed, leading to a playoff loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the wild card round and sparking calls for Sirianni to be fired.
The defensive backfield is one area where the Eagles should improve greatly this season, as they selected star cornerback Cooper DeJean in the draft and will be waiting for the return of former Indianapolis Colts cornerback Isaiah Rodgers, who the team signed after the 2022–2023 season despite knowing he would miss the entire following season due to a gambling suspension, but who is now prepared to play for the first time in an Eagles uniform.
Philadelphia wide receiver AJ Brown claims that if Rodgers’ teammates’ praises mean anything, the wide receiver has been taking advantage of every opportunity thus far at the Eagles’ training camp. According to Michael David Smith of NBC Sports’ Pro Football Talk, Brown said via ESPN, “For a guy that has not played football for a year, coming back, he looks like he has been playing nonstop.” “He’s on his way, and this year he’s going to do something special for us.”
In the Eagles defensive backfield, Rodgers is one of several players fighting for the starting cornerback position opposite Darius Slay.
Can the Eagles rebound back?
The Eagles’ 2023–24 season was, as previously stated, an absolute disaster, especially in light of the great heights the team had reached the year before. In 2022–2023 Philadelphia was the talk of the town, making it to the Super Bowl and almost defeating Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs on their way there.
This year, though, was different because the team’s defensive output skyrocketed during the course of the campaign. Although the team began the season with a lot of wins, it was quickly apparent that this was not the same Eagles team that the city had fallen in love with during the previous campaign. Quarterback Jalen Hurts struggled to establish any kind of rhythm with his offensive teammates.
Though Hurts is still relatively young and has room to improve on an inconsistent season in 2023–24, Brown still profiles as one of the NFL’s elite receivers and is capable of being the best player on the field on any given Sunday. The team has made great strides this year to add reinforcements, including the acquisition of star running back Saquon Barkley from the divisional rival New York Giants.
In any event, the Eagles’ 2023–24 campaign is scheduled to begin on Friday, September 6 in Brazil against the Green Bay Packers, followed by the home opener against the Atlanta Falcons the following week.