Philadelphia Eagles Wide Receiver A.J. Brown Suffers Knee Injury

The Philadelphia Eagles may have just narrowly avoided every team's Week 18 nightmare. Three-time Pro Bowl wide receiver A.J. Brown suffered a knee injury in Sunday's 27-10 loss to the New York Giants, but according to NFL Network's Mike Garafolo, it is not believed to be serious.

Sirianni asked about #Eagles WR A.J. Brown’s knee, says Brown was the first to greet players coming back into the locker room.

My understanding is it’s not believed to be a serious injury. https://t.co/XI6kwXZAPV
— Mike Garafolo (@MikeGarafolo) January 8, 2024

Brown went down clutching his knee in the first quarter, in obvious and significant pain. He was assisted to the locker room and never returned to the game. He finished his day with a single catch for nine yards.

There's optimism that Brown avoided a long-term injury, but head coach Nick Sirianni was still hesitant to say whether or not Brown could be well enough to face the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in next week's Wildcard game on Monday Night Football. Brown's unavailability would be a devastating turn of events for an Eagles team that's already limping into the playoffs: they've lost five of their final six games after starting their season 10-1.

Brown has been one of the league's very best receivers since the Eagles traded for him in 2022; his 1456 receiving yards this season are the second-most in franchise history, trailing only his 1496 receiving yards in 2022.

Beyond that, Brown is perhaps the player most responsible for quarterback Jalen Hurts emergence as a franchise quarterback. From 2020 to 2021, Hurts averaged 140.2 passing yards per game and 6.46 net yards per attempt. Entering today's game, he was up to 242.1 passing yards per game and 6.71 net yards per attempt. If Brown isn't ready to go in the Wildcard round, Hurts could struggle to keep up the level of play that has made him a Pro Bowler in each of the past two seasons.