The Eagles’ A.J. Brown on Jalen Hurts and the perks of playing in Philadelphia | Ekeler’s Edge

Los Angeles Chargers running back Austin Ekeler and Yahoo Sports’ Fantasy Analyst Matt Harmon are joined by Philadelphia’s superstar wide receiver who is loving life in Philadelphia. Number 11 discusses the emergence of his MVP candidate quarterback Jalen Hurts. A.J. Brown joins Yahoo Sports reminding you to try Old Spice GentleMan’s Blend deodorants and body washes, crafted to be gentle on skin with ridiculously long-lasting freshness. You can buy Old Spice GentleMan’s Blend in stores now. Catch fresh episodes of Ekeler’s Edge every Wednesday on Yahoo Sports and your favorite social media platforms. Listen to this entire episode of Ekeler’s Edge on the Yahoo Fantasy Football Forecast wherever you get podcasts.

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MATT HARMON: What has that experience been like, going from a small market team to a team in Philly that there's a lot of attention? I mean, my wife and I are watching the show "Abbott Elementary," and it's staged in Philadelphia. And they're-- the first episode, they're like, Eagles got AJ Brown, man. You know, so it's a different level of a fan base there.

AJ BROWN: That's crazy. That's crazy. Shout out to that show. I want to be on that show. Just because--

MATT HARMON: Dude, they got to get you on the show. Get you on the show. Hey, AJ. Obviously going to the Eagles this year-- you know, I don't normally do the whole old tweet thing. But somebody brought a tweet of mine that I had during the draft when you got traded back to my attention, where-- it's a good thing, trust me, trust me.

AJ BROWN: OK, OK, OK.

MATT HARMON: So I said, when you got traded, I was like, listen. This guy, AJ Brown, has top five wide receiver town. Like, he is that good. And you got a bunch of goofballs replying to my tweet like well, if only he had a quarterback. If only his quarterback could throw.

So a lot of criticism of Jalen Hurts before you got there. And look, I think it was-- number one, I think it was unwarranted. But number two, I think you being there has brought out a new level of Jalen. You guys have brought out really the best in each other. What has that dynamic been like, and were people just wrong about Jalen or is he taking another step this year?

AJ BROWN: I think people are definitely wrong about him. But definitely I think he's still just tuning up his game, tuning up the mechanics of his game. And it just kind of just shows you like what type of person he is, what type of-- how hard he works. Because me, I saw it up close and personal, how hard he worked this offseason and who he wanted to become. And right now, we're witnessing right before our eye.

AUSTIN EKELER: Yeah, I saw a post game show over the last game, and he was talking about how he just really focused on progress, right? Focused on just working to get himself and his teammates better. That's the message in the locker room. That's pretty special, right? Because that's-- you can't always control the results, but what you can is control the effort that you put into it. So if that's the messaging over there, that's good stuff and I love it.

AJ BROWN: For sure. It definitely is, it definitely is. And that's one of the things that he preaches daily. Just trying to keep getting better as a group.

MATT HARMON: Yeah. I think what's cool too is that there have been people on the outside. They're like, wow, AJ Brown's getting these targets on go routes. I didn't even know he could do that stuff, and based on what he did in Tennessee. I'm like, bro, this stuff is on film. You could see AJ Brown rip people up on go routes.

But it's just different quarterbacks and different styles. So I think that's the cool thing is that you guys have-- like, yeah, obviously I think having a top level receiver like yourself makes life easier for the quarterback. But I think in a lot of ways, too, the way Jalen loves to throw outside the numbers has shined a new light on something that you do really well as well.

AJ BROWN: I definitely think so. I think in the past, it was just kind of more controlled in Tennessee. I definitely did the same thing I did in Tennessee as I'm [? doing ?] now.

AUSTIN EKELER: Yeah.

AJ BROWN: I think another thing, the market is bigger here and just more spotlight. And of course, I think our record kind of speaks for itself. It's just bringing more eyes to it. So, you know, I'm just-- they're just watching more, I think. That's all.

MATT HARMON: Yeah. I think that probably is it. You play for some of those NFC East teams, and there's a lot of attention. But this year--

AJ BROWN: For sure.

MATT HARMON: It's been-- what has that experience been like, going from like a small market team to a team in Philly that there's a lot of attention. I mean, my wife and I are watching this show, "Abbott Elementary," and it's staged in Philadelphia. In the first episode, they're like, Eagles got AJ Brown, man! You know, so it's a different level of a fan base there.

AJ BROWN: That's crazy, that's crazy. Yeah.

- This year's gonna be different, because the Eagles got AJ Brown! We back, baby!

AJ BROWN: Shout out to that show. I want to be on that show, just because--

MATT HARMON: Dude, they got to get you on the show. Get you on the show.

AJ BROWN: Yeah. It's crazy. But just changing markets, it's just been everything. They're talking about the Dallas game, and we're two weeks away and they're treating it like it's a playoff game. That type of animosity that game brings. And I think the market just does that for you.

They want to see the Cowboys, they want to see the Eagles. That's always a tough match up. So that just kind of shows you how the market is here in Philly. I'm definitely enjoying it. It's not a playoff game, but it's a regular season game, and that's how I look at it. But it definitely-- it's all [INAUDIBLE] I think last time we played the Cowboys, it was like, 22 million watching? That's crazy. That's a regular season game, you know.

AUSTIN EKELER: Yeah.