Eagles fans haven’t let go of A.J. Brown, and they’re using Drake Maye’s words as the latest excuse to keep the conversation going.
Brown is gone from Philadelphia now, but the reaction around him has barely cooled since his trade to the Patriots two months ago. Part of that is simple: plenty of Eagles fans clearly weren’t thrilled to see him leave.
Part of it is the sight of Brown already getting comfortable with Maye while Jalen Hurts has struggled at practice. And part of it is that fans are grabbing onto anything that makes their feelings about Brown seem justified.
That includes Maye’s recent comments about working in a crowded receiver room this summer. The young quarterback said staying positive comes from winning, which is the kind of thing any quarterback would say. But he also made it clear that his job is not to “try to make everybody happy” and that the real assignment is to move the offense down the field and score points."
That line is exactly what some Eagles fans wanted to hear, because of the way Brown’s time in Philadelphia ended. Many have pointed to Brown’s dissatisfaction with limited targets and his game-day usage as part of the reason things unraveled.
Whether that was the whole story is unclear. What is clear is that the most committed Eagles fans who believe it are already counting down to the moment Maye runs into the reality of dealing with Brown.
That message got louder this week thanks to Inside the Iggles’ Anthony Miller, who took aim at Maye and tried to remind him that winning alone may not be enough to keep Brown satisfied.
"Quick history lesson for Maye: the Eagles won at least 11 games in each of the four years Brown was there. He was the most targeted receiver on the team with 521, made two Pro Bowls, was selected to three second-team All-Pro teams, went to two Super Bowls, and won one.
What was the end result of that? In 2024 during the Super Bowl run, there were reports that Brown was frustrated with a lack of targets.
His relationship with Jalen Hurts took a massive hit because of it. Brown wasn't happy with it and requested a trade multiple times throughout last year."
From the Eagles side, that warning makes sense. Brown’s recent history gives fans plenty of ammo to wonder how he’ll handle things if the ball doesn’t come his way as often as he wants.
Still, the Patriots have heard versions of this story before. They got plenty of the same talk about Stefon Diggs before the 2025 season, after his problems with the Vikings and the Bills. Instead of becoming a headache, Diggs ended up being a strong teammate and leader all year and proved people wrong.
There’s also the fact that Brown knows Josh McDaniels and understands how he calls games. That makes it reasonable to think Brown understands the offense will change depending on the opponent, and that he won’t be force-fed every week.
If that’s already sunk in, there’s no reason to expect a sideline blowup or some looming issue down the road. Even if it hasn’t fully clicked yet, he hasn’t given any sign that he’s about to become a problem.
Of course, that kind of risk always exists with a wide receiver. But Brown’s issues in Philadelphia seemed to go deeper than what outsiders could see or what was publicly reported, and that’s the piece that could matter most in Foxboro.
Miller still isn’t buying the optimism, though, and he’s convinced Maye’s upbeat view won’t last.
For now, Eagles fans are still leaning into the negativity around a player they once wanted gone, while Patriots fans are looking ahead to what Brown and Maye might build together this fall.
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