Insider Sheds Light on AJ Brown's Chances of Facing Cowboys
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The season opener is around the corner for AJ Brown and the Philadelphia Eagles.
Soon, the Super Bowl champions will be hosting the Dallas Cowboys, where they hope to pick up where they left off. Will AJ Brown be in the mix with the team at the start of the regular season? That will be one of the biggest question marks going into the game.
Lately, Brown has been dealing with a hamstring injury. He's been in and out of the Eagles' practice sessions this summer. This week, Brown has been sidelined as the Eagles prepare for their final outing of the preseason.
A.J. Brown #11 of the Philadelphia Eagles reacts during the Philadelphia Eagles Training Camp at NovaCare Complex on July 28, 2025 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
A.J. Brown #11 of the Philadelphia Eagles reacts during the Philadelphia Eagles Training Camp at NovaCare Complex on July 28, 2025 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.The chances of Brown playing in the Eagles' matchup against the New York Jets seemed low with or without the setback. The fact that he hasn't been suited up is pretty telling about his status.
As far as Week 1 goes, the NFL Insider Mike Garafolo expressed confidence in Brown's availability for that matchup against the Cowboys.
"I'm gonna say yes!" Garafolo said, predicting whether Brown would play or not. "Barring some setback, we've been telling you that there hasn't been a great concern about his status for Week 1. It's just making sure that they're not going to suffer some kind of setback."
From The Insiders on @nflnetwork: #Eagles WR A.J. Brown is working his way back into action well ahead of Week 1. Barring an unforeseen setback, he's on track to face the #Cowboys in 16 days. pic.twitter.com/0pOp1dbXQP — Mike Garafolo (@MikeGarafolo) August 19, 2025
The Eagles seem to be taking it easy with Brown for obvious reasons. Being that the star wide receiver is among the best at his position, he's critical to the Eagles' offensive success. Since he's a proven All-Pro, the Eagles don't need to see much out of Brown in training camp. Their best bet is to keep him off the field if he's not one-hundred percent for now.
Brown landed on the Eagles following his 2021 run with the Tennessee Titans. He appeared in 13 games, catching 63 passes for 869 yards and five touchdowns during his final run with the Titans.
Once Brown got to the Eagles, he instantly had a career year. In 2022, Brown caught 88 passes for 1,496 yards and 11 touchdowns in 17 games. During the 2023 NFL season, Brown followed up with 1,456 yards and seven touchdowns in 17 games.
Last season, the Eagles' passing game took a bit of a hit. Struggles and a heavy dose of Saquon Barkley nearly prevented Brown from missing the 1K mark for just the second time in his career. However, he got it in 13 games. With 67 catches, Brown totaled 1,079 yards and seven touchdowns.
Being in his prime, Brown remains a critical piece for the Eagles. The team hopes to have him on board for their first game of the season.
For more Philadelphia Eagles and NFL news, head over to Newsweek Sports.
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San Francisco Chronicle
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- San Francisco Chronicle
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Fox Sports
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- Fox Sports
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Williams ( @eric_d_williams ) Ralph Vacchiano ( @RalphVacchiano ) Carmen Vitali ( @CarmieV ) Check out all of our Daily Rankers . Want great stories delivered right to your inbox? Create or log in to your FOX Sports account, and follow leagues, teams and players to receive a personalized newsletter daily! FOLLOW Follow your favorites to personalize your FOX Sports experience National Football League What did you think of this story? share
New York Times
an hour ago
- New York Times
Five parting thoughts as Chargers wrap training camp: Who wins up-and-down CB battle?
EL SEGUNDO, Calif. — The Los Angeles Chargers held their 24th and final practice of training camp Thursday at The Bolt. They have one more preseason game remaining, on Saturday at the San Francisco 49ers. On Tuesday, they will trim their roster down to 53 players, and then their focus will turn squarely to Week 1 and the matchup with the Kansas City Chiefs in Brazil. Advertisement The roster is coming into focus. There are strengths, which should create some tough decisions for general manager Joe Hortiz and coach Jim Harbaugh. There are weaknesses, which should create opportunities for Hortiz and Harbaugh to supplement the roster via trades, waiver claims or signings. 'Attacking the day with an enthusiasm unknown to mankind — with a good roster,' Harbaugh said before Thursday's practice. We will have our final 53-man projection following the 49ers game. For now, here are five parting thoughts as the Chargers wrap up camp. 1. The battle for the starting cornerback spots has been tight through camp — but not necessarily in an ideal way. There are tight battles that result from multiple players stacking days, in practices and games, and pushing one another to higher levels. Then there are tight battles that result from inconsistencies and no player distancing himself from the group. I would put the Chargers cornerback battle in the latter category. Part of that has been because of injuries. The four players competing — Donte Jackson, Tarheeb Still, Cam Hart and Benjamin St-Juste — have all missed practices at various points in camp. But part of that, too, has been an up-and-down performance. There are effectively two outside spots open with the starting defense, because I believe the Chargers will be majoring in a three-safety package with Derwin James Jr. at nickel and Alohi Gilman and Elijah Molden at safety. Based on practice rotations this week, I think Still and Jackson have taken a slight lead as the top pairing. However, rotations have continued throughout this week. On Thursday, for example, Hart and St-Juste were the outside cornerbacks with James at nickel for the first rep of 11-on-11. Still and Jackson were the outside cornerbacks with James at nickel for the first rep of seven-on-seven. Advertisement 'I think we have four starters at the corner position,' defensive coordinator Jesse Minter said Wednesday. 'That doesn't mean they're obviously all out there for the first play of the season, but I feel great about the four.' I could see the Chargers rotating all four of these corners in game action through the early stages of the season. 2. The Chargers have a big problem when it comes to their offensive line depth. They were in solid shape heading into training camp, but the calculus changed when Rashawn Slater went down with his season-ending injury. They had an experienced swing tackle in Trey Pipkins III. Pipkins is now the starting right tackle, with Joe Alt moving to left tackle. Jamaree Salyer looks like an improved player after losing 35 pounds this offseason. He has three-position flexibility at both guard spots and left tackle. Andre James is a functional backup center. The starting five is set: LT Alt, LG Zion Johnson, C Bradley Bozeman, RG Mekhi Becton, RT Pipkins. They have two NFL-caliber depth pieces in Salyer and James. That makes seven. Beyond that, the Chargers do not have a reliable offensive lineman on the roster. None of the young players have proven they can play at this level: Branson Taylor, Karsen Barnhart, Josh Kaltenberger, Corey Stewart, Ryan Nelson and Nash Jones. Of that group, Jones has shown the most promise. But to me, he looks like a developmental practice squad piece, not a guy who can play meaningful regular-season snaps. Veteran tackle David Sharpe, who the Chargers signed off the street on Aug. 9 after Slater's injury, held his own in pass protection in the preseason loss to the Los Angeles Rams. But he is still playing his way into football shape. I would have concerns if Sharpe ends up being the eighth offensive lineman on the depth chart. Taylor, a sixth-round pick, had been working exclusively at guard through the first 20 practices of camp. After playing 69 snaps at left and right guard in the Rams game, Taylor moved to tackle for this week's practice, rotating between the left and right sides. Taylor was a college tackle. The Chargers initially projected a move inside. The transition has been shaky at times. Advertisement Last year, Hortiz identified roster weaknesses and made moves to rectify those after cuts. He traded for Molden. He traded for backup quarterback Taylor Heinicke. He also claimed running back Hassan Haskins off waivers. If the Chargers make a similar move this year, I think it needs to be along the offensive line. 'I feel like we have a good roster,' Harbaugh said Thursday. 'But then you also wonder what Chef Hortiz is going to cook up, too.' The only problem: Teams very rarely part with functional offensive linemen at this stage of the calendar. The time to build depth was in the offseason. The Chargers signed one offensive lineman in free agency in Becton, who missed three weeks of camp with an undisclosed injury. And they waited until Day 3 of the draft to take an offensive linemen, which was Taylor. I checked in with some of The Athletic's beat writers to see if any roster-bubble linemen could be available via trade or waivers. Two tackles that were mentioned: the 49ers' Isaiah Prince and the Bills' Ryan Van Demark. Some interior linemen who were mentioned: the Vikings' Blake Brandel and Joe Huber, the Broncos' Calvin Throckmorton and the Patriots' Caeden Wallace, Layden Robinson and Cole Strange. 3. Harbaugh continues to avoid providing any details on the status of running back Najee Harris, who remains on the non-football injury list with a right eye injury he suffered in a July 4 fireworks accident. Harris has been ramping up his football work off to the side of Chargers practices, but he has not practiced. 'When Najee is ready to play, Najee will be ready to play,' Harbaugh said Thursday. 'Right now, to take it past today would be going over the legal limit. That would take you over the legal limit of what-ifs.' The Chargers must make a decision on Harris by 1 p.m. PT on Tuesday, when final cuts are due. If Harris remains on NFI after that deadline, he will be forced to miss the first four games of the season. That feels like the likely resolution at this stage. Advertisement Without Harris, rookie Omarion Hampton will be the feature back early on in the season, and I expect him to have a huge impact on the Chargers' running game. The bigger question: Who will be the No. 2 back behind Hampton? My read right now based on practice rotations is that it will be Haskins. 'You need a good run, Hassan is right there ready, willing and able to give it to you,' Harbaugh said of Haskins, who played for Harbaugh at Michigan. 4. Trey Lance has distanced himself in the backup quarterback battle over Heinicke. Harbaugh said Lance will start Saturday's game against his former team. Heinicke will replace him. Both quarterbacks will play one or two series, according to Harbaugh. Then rookie DJ Uiagalelei will play the rest of the game. What do the Chargers do with Heinicke? They could just cut him. They could stash him on the 53-man and try to execute a trade after cuts. Remember last year, the Falcons kept Michael Penix Jr., Kirk Cousins and Heinicke on their 53-man. That forced the Chargers to give up a seventh-round pick for Heinicke. The Chargers could flip the script and do the same thing, assuming they can find a trade partner. At the same time, they also need roster spots for deserving and capable players. 5. Linebacker Junior Colson, a 2024 third-round pick, has not done enough to push up the depth chart in his room. Daiyan Henley and Denzel Perryman are firmly entrenched as the two starters at off-ball linebacker. Troy Dye is very clearly the No. 3 linebacker in the room. Colson, at best, is LB4. And even that is in question with Del'Shawn Phillips passing his physical and coming off the physically unable to perform list earlier this week. Now Colson is dealing with another injury. He did not practice Wednesday or Thursday. He also missed three practices with an injury earlier in camp, and he did not play in the second preseason game against the New Orleans Saints. If the Chargers end up keeping all five of these inside linebackers on the 53-man roster, the math starts to get difficult. They do have a new mechanism at their disposal this year. In previous years, if a player was placed on IR before final cuts, he had to miss the whole season. Now, teams can place up to two players on IR on the business day of final cuts — Tuesday this year — and those two players can be designated to return after they miss four games. Depending on the severity of Colson's injury, the Chargers could place him on IR. (Top photo of Donte Jackson: Ric Tapia / Getty Images) Spot the pattern. Connect the terms Find the hidden link between sports terms Play today's puzzle
