Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts confirmed former teammate A.J. Brown’s assessment that the two had grown apart last season, albeit with a bit of prodding.
In an interview with GQ magazine published Tuesday, Hurts was asked if he and Brown — who is now with the New England Patriots — had drifted apart.
“There’s no surprise that it was talked about,” Hurts initially responded to the question.
When pressed further, Hurts paused for a moment before responding: “I mean, clearly.”
Three months ago, Brown was asked by NBC Sports about his relationship with Hurts, who also is the godfather of Brown’s daughter, Jersee.
“Not as close as we once were,” Brown said. “I believe that’s fine. There’s no bad blood. There’s actually still a lot of love. I love him to death. I want him to succeed and accomplish all the things that he wants to accomplish.
“I didn’t truly understand why our friendship became the center of everyone’s attention when it comes to football. Because looking back on it, we haven’t been as close as we were for a couple years now. But that didn’t stop anything. We still competed, we still pushed each other, we still led the team. It was just kind of strange. People got so fixated on our relationship.
“Im’a say it to you, Im’a say it on camera, I have nothing but love for him. I want him to do well and accomplish everything that his heart desires.”
Brown acknowledged that there was no particular incident that led to the shift in the relationship.
“Nothing happened, people just grow apart,” Brown said. “Nothing happened between me and him, or our families, wives, anything. Nothing like that ever happened. Life happens and you just look up sometimes and you just, you find yourself drifting away and that’s fine. And I think both parties accepted that.”
The two shared a hug at a joint practice between the Patriots and Eagles last month.
Brown and Hurts were teammates for four seasons after the Eagles acquired Brown from the Tennessee Titans in April 2022 for first- and third-round picks in the 2022 NFL Draft. They played in two Super Bowls, winning one.
“You can’t replace the greatness that we have achieved and the presence and the success that he’s had on the field, but we’ve got to go to work,” Hurts told GQ.
“It’s a game where we’ve all got to have a shared mission. We all got to be in pursuit of the collective. And it’s not something I can speak on from his behalf, but I can tell you my focus has always been to pursue the mission.”
–Field Level Media
