Eagles’ A.J. Brown feels it’s time ‘to put a stamp on’ his status as NFL’s best WR as training camp opens

Wiping away sweat and fielding a question about the driving force for the next phase of his career, A.J. Brown took a weighty pause.

Thirteen seconds, to be precise.

The Eagles wide receiver’s first day of training camp was commensurate with the performances he’s consistently turned in throughout his three seasons with the team and six-year NFL career overall. He caught a deep pass from Jalen Hurts for one of the biggest gains of the day during a team session and drew a pass-interference penalty against Quinyon Mitchell near the end zone during seven-on-sevens.

The veteran having dominant moments is hardly surprising given his track record, though. And neither is what Brown finally said — after carefully choosing his words on the post-practice podium — about what motivates him entering Year 7 and what may be his career’s second half.

“I truly feel like I’m the best in the league and I want to put a stamp on it,” Brown said. “So I’m definitely motivated. But also, I have to put the team first. That’s what I do, honestly. I could go into it deeper, but I think that’s what I’m focused on. Being the best version of myself and proving it each and every day that I am the best.”

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Putting the team first, or more specifically operating in an offense with Saquon Barkley as the focal point last season, resulted in 2024 being one of the more statistically modest years of Brown’s career.

With Brown missing four games and the Eagles making a midseason pivot toward featuring Barkley and the running game much more heavily, the receiver finished the regular season with 67 catches for 1,079 yards and seven touchdowns on 97 targets. By comparison, he averaged 97 catches for 1,476 yards and nine touchdowns on 151.5targets over the previous two years with the Eagles and only dipped below the 100-target mark once in his rookie season with the Tennessee Titans before that.

Still, as he searches for a place to store his freshly unveiled Super Bowl ring, Brown said he’s never been closer to cementing himself at the level he first dreamed of before his NFL debut as he watched Cleveland Browns fans clamor over star receivers Odell Beckham Jr. and Jarvis Landry running out of the tunnel in 2019.

“The crowd went crazy,” Brown said. “That feeling, that adrenaline that I got, I said, ‘That’s going to be me one day.’ And here I am.”

So, if it’s not production, how does Brown measure his new goal, then?

“That’s my measurement,” Brown said. “It’s not what the critics say or whoever says it, that’s for me personally. God placed that on my heart when I came in the league, he told me that I could be the best in the league. And I feel like, right now, I’m closer than I’ve ever been. I’m closer than I’ve ever been, and I want to put a stamp on it. And that’s for me, that’s not for whoever else, I don’t care what anyone else says, that’s for me. And I’m chasing that every day.”

For what it’s worth, some critics already have Brown as the leader of the pack. Pro Football Focus ranked Brown No. 1 in a set of wide-receiver rankings published last week. ESPN had Brown ranked fifth in a list that polled NFL executives, coaches, and scouts, though, behind the usual suspects of Justin Jefferson and Ja’Marr Chase as well as CeeDee Lamb and Tyreek Hill.

And while Brown’s teammate DeVonta Smith would likely put himself No. 1 above anyone else, he conceded Brown is already where he wants to prove he belongs.

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“When it comes down to it,” Smith said Wednesday. “If I had to pick a receiver other than myself to go out there and win one-on-one, besides myself, I’d pick A.J.”

Brown’s new pursuit comes at the conclusion of a self-admitted offseason of internal conflict. The 28-year-old posted on social media and later discussed his mixed reaction to winning a Super Bowl and how quickly the enjoyment wore off.

On Wednesday, he said he spent more time considering how to navigate this upcoming season than enjoying the one that came before, something that may inform his new expressed goal going into this season.

“That’s something that doesn’t really get talked about a lot, handling success,” Brown said. “We always talk a lot about battling adversity, but you’ve got to learn how to battle success. And that’s one thing — I ground myself every day."