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The Philadelphia Eagles have to make sure they don’t beat themselves.
A nine-game winning streak helped the Eagles (11-2) clinch their fourth consecutive playoff berth. They’re seeking an NFC East title and still have a chance at catching Detroit (12-1) for the NFC’s No. 1 seed.
But an ugly win over Carolina in which Jalen Hurts only threw 21 passes for 108 yards left wide receivers A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith in a bad mood. He made it clear the offense, specifically the passing attack, wasn’t playing up to standard.
He’s right. Hurts has thrown for fewer than 200 yards in three straight games. But Saquon Barkley is running at a record-setting pace so the Eagles haven’t had to rely on Hurts throwing to Brown and Smith as much as they have in the past.
Brown caught four passes on four targets for 43 yards while Smith had four catches on six targets for 37 yards and one touchdown against the Panthers.
That led to Brown bluntly responding “passing” when asked by a reporter after the game what needs improvement.
Veteran leader Brandon Graham added fuel to the drama on his radio show Monday night by implying there’s friction between Brown and Hurts. The two were close friends long before they became teammates and Hurts is the godfather for Brown’s daughter.
“The person that’s complaining (needs) to be accountable,” Graham said of Brown. “I’m just being honest. ... Like and he (knows) this. I don’t know the whole story, but I know that (Hurts) is trying. And I mean, (Brown) could be a little better with how he responds to things and they were friends before this. It’s like, man, but things have changed, and I understand that because life happens, but we gotta — it’s the business side that we have to make sure that we don’t let the personal get in the way of the business and that’s what we gotta do better at right now because we know it’s the issue.
“Everybody is saying some things, but we need to be able to talk things out as men, you know what I’m saying? But, we need to let personal stuff go and let’s get right for this game because man, it’s like most of the time it’s just a conversation that just (needs) to be had, but the person with the problem (has) to want to talk to the person other than others. That’s all I’m saying."
Graham, who is sidelined with a triceps injury, clarified his comments later to an ESPN reporter, saying he made the wrong assumption about the relationship between Hurts and Brown and planned to apologize to both players.
But the damage was done.
Or was it?
While social media ran wild with news there’s more trouble in Philadelphia, the Eagles have been here before. They fell apart last year after a 10-1 start, dropping six of their final seven games, including a lopsided loss in the playoffs to Tampa Bay.
There were questions about Hurts’ leadership, his relationship to teammates and the team’s locker room dynamic. Plus, coach Nick Sirianni was harshly criticized for the team’s failures.
They overcame a tumultuous offseason and are 11-2 and in position to make a Super Bowl run.
All they have to do is get along, put the team first and focus on the overall goal of winning a championship instead of pouting about individual statistics.
One breakout passing game can change everything.
Belichick’s future
Bill Belichick can’t break Don Shula’s all-time NFL wins record coaching in college.
Whether his interest in the vacancy at the University of North Carolina is genuine or not, it doesn’t change the fact that he has to return to the NFL to become the winningest coach in league history.
The biggest question is whether he’ll get that opportunity. Belichick only interviewed with Atlanta out of eight coaching vacancies last season.
Belichick, who led the New England Patriots to six Super Bowl titles with Tom Brady, needs to win 27 more games to break Shula’s record for most regular-season victories. He’s 15 wins away from passing Shula for all-time victories, including the postseason.
The 72-year-old Belichick explained on ESPN’s “The Pat McAfee Show,” how he would approach a college job.
“If I was in a college program, the college program would be a pipeline to the NFL for the players that had the ability to play in the NFL,” Belichick said. “It would be a professional program: training, nutrition, scheme, coaching, techniques that would transfer to the NFL. It would be an NFL program at a college level.”
Belichick pointed out the NIL and transfer portal have made college football more like pro football.
It makes sense for Belichick to explore all of his options and talk to every team that’s interested.
North Carolina could end up being his best opportunity to return to coaching, even if he can’t add those wins to his NFL resume.
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AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/nfl