Saquon Barkley calls A.J. Brown ‘great leader’ as Eagles RB defends star WR’s earlier comments

PHILADELPHIA — The first time Saquon Barkley met A.J. Brown, he was floored.

A hard worker himself, Barkley was amazed how hard Brown worked, how he trained to be great. There’s a common ground between the Philadelphia Eagles teammates, besides their God-given ability to make plays on Sunday. 

Barkley can easily relate to Brown. They both want to be great. 

“I think he’s a great leader,” Barkley said. “That’s something that you don’t know walking into the door, obviously being new guy here, but from the second I was able to meet him in conversations with him, the way that he carried himself, the way that he works. 

“It’s rare to see a guy that talented and a guy who’s accomplished the things he’s accomplished still come with the same mindset and the work ethic that he has. I’m a big fan of A.J.. Happy to have him as a teammate.”

Brown created a stir this week when he had a one-word answer — “passing” — on how the offense can improve. An answer like that can be interpreted in many ways, especially when the Eagles have the fewest passing attempts in the NFL. There’s also a rushing record Barkley is pursuing, a product of how well the Eagles have run the ball.

Would the Eagles sacrifice a few Barkley touches for Brown targets?

“We’re not sitting at lunch table talking about, oh, we need to throw the ball more,” Barkley said. “I don’t think it’s coming from a selfish way at all from being able to sit down have those conversations with him, get to know him personally. I know it’s not at all so he works. 

“I know wide receivers have a preconceived notion how people view them, but I think our relationship and the way he comes in here, and you can’t hear no one in the locker room say anything negative about that man.”

The feeling is mutual with Brown.

“We know we can run the ball. Saquon is doing a great job,” Brown said. “We’re not against running the ball. We love Saquon. Ask him what I tell him … in the game. Like, ‘Do your job,’ in the game.”

If the Eagles have to pass the ball and sacrifice a few Barkley touches, so be it. Barkley knows what the passing game can do. 

“We have A.J. Brown, we have DeVonta Smith, we have Jalen Hurts,” Barkley said. “The goal is to win football games. If we’re throwing for 350 yards and we’re not rushing that great, would people still have the same conversations? It’s not real. 

“What matters is winning football games. Yes, we want to do better. We know the kind of talent that we have. Obviously, the stats didn’t match the production we had in the pass game last week. But that was last week. That’s in the past. We learned from it.”