The Philadelphia Eagles traded A.J. Brown to the New England Patriots on June 1 after an offseason of speculation about the veteran wide receiver’s future.
Jordan Mailata, the team’s long-time starting left tackle, believes knowing Brown’s fate will help the Eagles to move forward as they prepare for the 2026 NFL season.
Mailata told reporters that the Eagles “can move on now” with certainty after facing months of uncertainty about Brown’s status with the team.
“I think most of us that have been here the last six weeks, we have moved on, just from, we have enough to worry about,” Mailata explained. “Getting over last year, and then coming in here and learning a new scheme and new concepts, like we had to press on. So that’s what we were doing.”
“I think this is more of a – it sounds terrible – but like, thank God it’s over,” Mailata added. “It was a slow pain of just, is he in, is he out? We didn’t really know, and that really wasn’t our focus as a team, our team, especially the offense. We got to keep these wheels moving, we got new guys coming in, we got rookies coming in again, we got to build that culture every year.”
Mailata made it clear during his media availability he didn’t think Brown had a negative impact on the team last year, even as the wide receiver was critical of the team’s offense under Kevin Patullo.
The 29-year-old tackle simply chalked Brown’s departure up to “business.” He also explained his present focus was on helping integrate the Eagles’ new acquisitions into the team’s culture rather than on the Brown saga.
“I don’t really spend thinking about it just because we already have a hard enough time as it is of learning new concepts and bringing the new guys from undrafted free agents to free agents to rookies, we’re worried about trying to bring them along,” Mailata said.
Philadelphia’s offense is dealing with several offseason changes. Not only did the Eagles part with Brown, but Sean Mannion was brought in to replace Patullo as the team’s offensive coordinator, while legendary offensive line coach Jeff Stoutland stepped down after 13 seasons.
So, to Mailata’s point, the Eagles already had a lot to focus on outside of Brown. Now, they will fully turn their attention to preparing for the 2026 season and trying to win their third consecutive NFC East title.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Eagles OT happy to put A.J. Brown trade in rearview: ‘Thank God it’s over’