“They gonna mess with your life”: Ryan Clark warns A.J. Brown over media denial of players-only meeting with Jalen Hurts, Saquon Barkley

A.J. Brown, Saquon Barkley, and Jalen Hurts have every reason to be on the edge of panic. After reaching the Super Bowl the first time in 2022, Hurts' Eagles followed the breakout season up with a season that started 10-1 but finished 11-6. Once again, after reaching the Super Bowl last season, the Eagles started hot at 4-0 and have slid to 4-2.

As the situation has deteriorated, the trio of stars did what many struggling teams do: they held a private meeting. When Brown was asked about the meeting, however, he refused to give a straight answer. NFL analyst Ryan Clark warned Brown against holding out on the media on a Friday edition of "First Take."

"I don't get what you think is going to come from answering that way," Clark said. "When you obviously know when the reporters come to you or the media comes to you to ask you about a meeting that you know you had, it's because they already know you had it.

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"To say I don't recall something that happened that week, whether it didn't or it did happen, is now you playing in the face of the media. ... When you play in the face of the media, they gonna mess with your life. They're going to mess with your career. They're going to make it difficult to function."

As a member of the media, Clark's warning comes across as a threat to the Philadelphia Eagles wide receiver.

Clark, who has plenty of experience interviewing players on "The Pivot," knows what it's like to be stonewalled by a player. He also knows how the media can change the reputation of a player based on how he treats them. Whether it was a courtesy warning or a threat, the pressure is on for Brown to change his media face.

A.J. Brown shows encouraging signs of life

A.J. Brown at Philadelphia Eagles v New York Giants - Source: Getty

While the tone might be changing in Philadelphia in many ways amid the team's nosedive, there is one aspect that appears to be getting better. A.J. Brown has seen his usage increase weekly since Sept. 28. On Sept. 28, Brown had just two catches for seven yards.

On Oct. 5 against the Denver Broncos, he earned five catches for 43 yards. Against the New York Giants on Oct. 9, the receiver earned six catches for 80 yards, making a few highlight catches in the process.

While things are far from perfect and even seemingly getting worse team-wide, the Brown-Hurts connection appears to be on the mend.

It's going to need to get even better, however, if A.J. Brown and the Philadelphia Eagles are to defeat the Minnesota Vikings following their mini-bye.

Edited by Ian Van Roy