Donovan McNabb compared and contrasted the Eagles offense bringing in Terrell Owens in 2004 vs. A.J. Brown in 2022 on Monday.
"We were establishing ourselves offensively with [Brian] Westbrook, with our tight ends with Chad [Lewis] and L.J. [Smith] I think [Todd Pinkston] Pink was kind of coming into his own with the deeper routes," McNabb told Jon Marks and Ike Reese on Monday, one day after the Eagles' Week 1 win over the Lions. "I thought when we brought T.O. in that was just an added piece to get us over the hump. We were already established pretty much offensively.
"I think right now, they're still trying to figure themselves out offensively. So when you bring in A.J. Brown the focus will be more on A.J. Brown instead of what the offensive scheme is about, and that's the difference between Nick [Sirianni] and Andy [Reid]."
Despite the fact that Brown (10 catches, 155 yards) received 13 targets in the season opener compared to four a pierce for DeVonta Smith (zero catches) and Dallas Goedert (3 catches, 60 yards), McNabb believes Brown will open things up for Smith and Goedert as the season progresses.
Related
"This could possibly be very big for DeVonta Smith because they're gonna double team A.J. Brown which is going to lead to one on one coverage for DeVonta Smith," McNabb said. "So I expect him and Dallas [Goedert] to shine and to be the second and third and fourth options in the passing attack."
T.O. ended up playing 14 games for the Eagles in 2004, catching 77 balls for 1,200 yards and 14 touchdowns, before fracturing his fibula to miss the multiple weeks and return for a Super Bowl loss the Patriots.
In 21 games as an Eagle, T.O. had double-digit catches in a game just one time (Week 4 in 2005 against the Chiefs), something Brown accomplished in his first try with Philadelphia.
However, Brown has a much better relationship with his Eagles quarterback than T.O. did with his.
Listen live to 94WIP via:
Audacy App | Online Stream | Smart Speaker