A.J. Brown has been through this before — and that matters.
While not all of the Eagles were around for the run to Super Bowl LVII to cap the 2022 season, Brown was. And now that this is his second time reaching the final game of the season, he knows what to expect.
“Last time, I honestly felt like a paid actor during the whole week, just everything, so many interviews,” Brown said after Sunday’s victory in the NFC Championship Game, via Dave Zangaro of NBCSportsPhiladelphia.com. “The only part that felt like real football was the game. And so when you remove all those things and you’re just trying to focus on the game and that’s the only thing that matters. And just trying to win. Everything else is for everybody else.”
That’s part of why even though Brown was happy and excited to be heading to New Orleans, he wasn’t getting too far up about it.
“This is very different,” Brown said. “My emotions are intact. Of course, I’m excited for guys who haven’t been before. But I just want to win. I just want to win. Maybe I’ll let my emotions go if we get to do that.
“We’ve been there before,” Brown added. “I’m not saying that I’m used to it but you’ve been there before, you know what it’s like and you know what’s at stake. You know how to handle it now. That’s the only thing I’m focused on. Doing things differently. Trying to do everything in my power to try to get us a win.”
After catching just three passes for 24 yards in Philadelphia’s first two postseason games, he had six receptions for 96 yards with a touchdown in the 55-23 victory over Washington on Sunday.
