Scale of 1 to 10, How Much Will the Eagles Miss AJ Brown This Season?

Writing the Philadelphia Eagles out of the playoff picture is a popular August exercise. Rich would not go anywhere near it.

"It would take a massive influx of injury for the Eagles to be out," he said. "They're too damn talented to have more losses than wins." Everyone who watched them this summer came away saying the same thing, that Philadelphia is the biggest team in the NFL, massive and athletic at the same time.

Losing A.J. Brown is still significant, and the schedule made it unavoidable this week. The Eagles and New England Patriots practiced against each other and then played each other in the preseason, which put Brown in front of microphones more than usual.

He was not interested in feeding anybody. "None of that stuff even matters," Brown said. "I think you all should want to report something positive. The question is going to turn negative, so let's not get into that and let's keep everything positive. It's love my way and just move forward. That's all." Asked whether he planned to catch up with his former quarterback, Brown shrugged it off. If their paths crossed, sure.

They crossed. Moments later, live on the show, Jalen Hurts and Brown found each other on the field and hugged it out, then stood there talking for a while. Rich called it a Rich Eisen Show bro hug and enjoyed every second of it.

The relationship underneath the hug is what made the trade make sense to Rich. Brown and Hurts clearly had some form of falling out. They might have been tight back when they went to the Super Bowl for the first time, and they were not as tight toward the end, and it showed on the field. Were they enemies? Doubtful. Guys sometimes do not get along in locker rooms, and it does not matter if the wins come. Last year the wins did not come, and Philadelphia did not get past the first round.

So the Eagles are hoping for addition by subtraction, with Hurts as the guy to lead the charge without his top target. New England is running the opposite math.

Addition by addition equals a Super Bowl is how the Patriots see it. They got all the way to the Super Bowl last year without Brown and Romeo Doubs, and now they have both, which they believe more than makes up for Stefon Diggs beating it on down the line to Washington. Around the desk, the Patriots contingent was giddy about all of it, calling Brown an outstanding addition for Drake Maye just as he begins to take off as a pro, praising the camp Doubs has been having, and predicting a big season for Tremaine Edmunds.

All of that is pointed at one night. The rubber meets the road on opening night, with Brown and Doubs and Maye in the building for a banner raise, which is presumably why the league scheduled it that way. Rich would have gone another direction. He always thought the Bears against the Seahawks would be the more intriguing opening night game, though he understands running it back, with the Super Bowl 60 matchup opening the Super Bowl 61 season.

As for the idea that Brown never spoke to Hurts after the trade, Rich could not muster the surprise everyone else seems to want. They clearly were not as tight as they once were. This is not a mystery.