PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Philadelphia Eagles wide receiver A.J. Brown will miss Monday night’s playoff game against Tampa Bay with a knee injury.
Brown was hurt in the first quarter of last week’s loss to the New York Giants after a short reception. Cornerback Nick McCloud punched the ball out of Brown’s hands for a fumble, and the two went to the turf at MetLife Stadium. Brown lay on the field for a couple of minutes, walked gingerly to the medical tent favoring his right knee and then went to the Eagles’ locker room.
“It was going to be a stretch for A.J. to play,” coach Nick Sirianni said Saturday. “He did everything he possibly could to get himself ready. He fought like crazy to try and do everything he could do.”
Brown finished the regular season with 106 receptions for 1,456 yards and seven touchdowns. He had nine catches for 131 yards in the Eagles’ September win over the Buccaneers.
Brown didn’t practice at all this week.
“Unfortunately, he won’t be able to rip it this week,” Sirianni said.
Brown was not ruled out for the next round, should the Eagles advance.
Quarterback Jalen Hurts is scheduled to play after a light throwing week because of an injured middle finger on his right hand.
“Everyone’s going to be fighting through things,” Sirianni said. “He’s fighting through the finger injury. But he had a good practice (Friday).”
Sirianni said he didn’t second-guess his decision to play the starters in a mostly meaningless game. The defending NFC champion Eagles opened the season 10-1 before a 1-5 finish knocked them to the No. 5 seed.
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