The Philadelphia Eagles cannot avoid this any longer.

Last week, Philadelphia Eagles wide receiver A.J. Brown caused a stir when he expressed obvious displeasure with his role. He then walked it back during the week, saying that he was merely allowing frustration to get the best of him and that he was in happy in Philadelphia.

Then what do you call this?

That would have been a 50-yard touchdown for Brown. Instead, he decided to slow down his route on what was an adequately thrown ball by Jalen Hurts. It wasn't an overthrow, and even if it was slightly, it was still catchable by Brown had he turned on the jets rather than quitting on the play.

Does that sound harsh? Maybe, but that's exactly what he did, and the Eagles ended up blowing a 14-point fourth-quarter lead in a 21-17 loss to the Denver Broncos, their first loss of the season.

When Philadelphia was undefeated, Brown's antics were mostly viewed as a footnote. But anyone could see that the Eagles were teetering. None of their wins have been dominant, and now, they finally have a loss. Now can we admit that Brown is becoming an issue?

Brown caught five passes for 43 yards on nine targets on Sunday afternoon. He can't complain about not getting the ball. Hurts is looking for him. It just isn't turning into big plays.

We keep waiting for a Brown breakout, and that appeared to happen in Week 3 when he snared six balls for 109 yards and a touchdown against the Los Angeles Rams. But the last two games, he has totaled seven receptions for 50 yards. Something is wrong.

The idea of the Eagles potentially trading Brown midseason fresh off a Super Bowl title seems ridiculous on the surface, but now, we may have reached a juncture where the three-time Pro Bowler is actually hurting Philadelphia.

There is no excuse for what Brown did on that route. None. He wasn't injured. There were no defenders in front of him. Again, it wasn't a terribly thrown ball by Hurts. He just decided to check out, and it's only Week 5. That's a terrible sign.

Brown has obviously been a major part of Philly's offense since arriving in 2022. When he is locked in, he is genuinely one of the NFL's best receivers. He posted back-to-back 1,400-yard campaigns in his first two years with the Birds. Last season, he recorded 1,079 yards in 13 games, averaging a hefty 16.1 yards per catch.

But at the rate he is currently proceeding in 2025, he won't approach those numbers, and while some of that is on Hurts and the Eagles' offense as a whole, the 28-year-old deserves some blame, especially if he is going to start calling it a day in the middle of a game.

Philadelphia needs to get this fixed. Now. Either Hurts and/or Nick Sirianni need to have a heart-to-heart with Brown, or Philly needs to seriously consider cutting ties now before things get worse and Brown divides the locker room. The Eagles don't need another Terrell Owens situation.