AJ Brown’s Pro Bowl form has been missing all season. 12 weeks in, and he is nowhere near his best self, and the struggles haven’t stayed confined to the field. 12 weeks in, and he is nowhere near his best self. For Eagles legend Donovan McNabb, this is exactly the kind of crossroads where Nick Sirianni can’t be afraid to make a hard call.

McNabb was on 94 WIP this week and drew a line between Brown’s situation and Tyreek Hill’s exit from Kansas City to bring his point home.

“I’m glad you brought that up with Kansas City because he’s (Andy Reid) been going out. But what did he do? He pulled away one of the toxic parts of it, and that was when he decided to go a different direction, you know, from Tyreek, when he went away from the Tyreek situation, everybody was saying, what, they’re not the same team,” McNabb said. “And Patrick’s not going to be the same type of quarterback without Tyreek. And they’ve been to multiple Super Bowls after.”

It didn’t look like a popular decision when Kansas City traded Hill after back-to-back 1,000-yard seasons. Hill felt underused, questioned his target share, and didn’t like the lack of guaranteed money the Chiefs offered.

Fans were convinced the team had created a hole in its offense that they wouldn’t fix for years. Instead, the Chiefs became more flexible offensively, leaned into Patrick Mahomes’ strengths, and have won two Super Bowls since Hill walked out the door. McNabb believes letting AJ Brown go can unravel a similar future for the Eagles.

To be clear, Brown’s production isn’t the root of the concern. Yes, 567 yards in 10 games is a step back from the 1,079 he had through 13 games last year. But it’s the stuff around the production. Telling everyone to get rid of him in fantasy, calling the season a “shi-show,” taking subtle shots at the offense, posting cryptic messages online, it’s all been peculiar.

Eagles’ locker room doesn’t need all that right now. And among the many controversies is the situation between him and quarterback Jalen Hurts, which Jason Kelce recently called out.

Jason Kelce calls for accountability

On paper, the Eagles don’t look like a team in crisis. They’re sitting atop the division, tracking toward the postseason, and still have the roster to make some noise in January. But anyone paying attention can tell the real issues are inside the locker room.

Reports keep surfacing about tension between Jalen Hurts and AJ Brown, and more than a few teammates have grown impatient with the quarterback’s uneven season. Jason Kelce has heard enough of the drama talk. And he made that clear.

“You try to be accountable to what you’re doing wrong, what you’re failing in. These are the ways you maintain relationships and maintain a team functionality. I think that there’s been reports of this over two or three years, and the team has still been massively successful,” the former Eagles’ center said.

Well, no one is asking the Eagles to be best friends off the field. But there has to be basic respect, enough to keep issues out of the media and the focus on football. Because if the frustration bleeding into the public eye starts bleeding into what happens on Sundays, this season can go sideways in a hurry.

The Eagles have the roster to take another swing at a deep playoff run. They’ve shown it in flashes, even if the offense can’t seem to avoid long, baffling lulls. They just can’t afford to let the noise derail what this group is capable of doing.