Nick Sirianni addresses the A.J. Brown trade for 1st time

Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni was clearly ready for the questions.

At his press conference to open the Eagles’ mandatory minicamp on Tuesday, Sirianni was speaking publicly for the first time since the Eagles traded A.J. Brown to the New England Patriots after months of speculation.

He was asked first how disappointing it was for Brown’s time in Philly to end the way it did.

“I would say there were a lot of good years here and [we’ve] done a lot of good things with A.J. here, two times in the Super Bowl,” Sirianni said. “I think he was All-Pro multiple times, Pro Bowl multiple times. I would say it was a good run. But really excited about that room that we have.”

From there, Sirianni made a point to mention just about every receiver on the roster. He started with DeVonta Smith, who is now the WR1 in the Eagles’ offense. He then mentioned first-round pick Makai Lemon from USC. He talked up Dontayvion Wicks, whom he said had a little “Keenan Allen to him.”

Sirianni made sure to include free agent additions Hollywood Brown and Elijah Moore — two veterans he has watched from afar for years. He also didn’t forget Darius Cooper and Johnny Wilson — two players who can do the dirty work in the offense.

During his long answer, Sirianni made an obvious effort to shift the conversation from the traded superstar to the stable of receivers tasked with replacing Brown in a brand new offense. As the head coach, Sirianni should be focused on the players still on his roster.

OK, but not so fast. Back to Brown.

What was Sirianni’s input on the decision to trade him?

“Howie and I discuss everything as you guys know. We talk through everything,” Sirianni said. “Again, so many things that [A.J.] did that were good for our football team and always will wish him the best of luck. But like I said, really excited about the guys in that room and where we are, but this is a team game. To your question and just in every decision that I make and decisions that Howie makes, we talk to each other about it. What a good teammate that I have with Howie Roseman to be able to go to battle with.

“That’s like that with everything. The offensive staff working together to come up with the best plan, the defensive staff working together to come up with the best plan. I think that’s what good organizations do. Obviously, the Philadelphia Eagles have been a good organization for a very long time and I’m very grateful and thankful to be a part of that.”

Sirianni is right about Brown’s accomplishments in Philadelphia. He’ll go down as one of the best receivers in franchise history. He had over 5,000 yards in four seasons, has the two best receiving seasons in team history and helped the Eagles get to two Super Bowls and win one.

But last year, Brown was clearly frustrated by the offense. And over the course of this offseason, it became clearer and clearer that the Eagles were going to trade him. They at least had time to prepare for when the trade eventually went down on June 1.

During Tuesday’s press conference, Sirianni answered just four total questions with long and winding answers. The next two were about the uncomfortable conversations Brown said he was willing to start and then about the deterioration of the relationship between Brown and quarterback Jalen Hurts.

Hurts and Brown once considered each other to be best friends but even Brown admitted last week that they are not as close anymore.

“I think sometimes that can get misconstrued that everyone has to be best friends and that’s just not the case,” Sirianni said. “There’s a lot of guys on a football team. There’s a lot of different personalities. What has to be understood is that everybody has a common goal.”

Sirianni explained that relationships can be different in the NFL. Some guys are best friends, while others aren’t as close. He preached the idea of a common goal. Sirianni said he loves tennis but tells his players “none of you are built to play tennis” — except Jake Elliott.

“We need each other,” Sirianni said. “Not in this sport can we do it alone.

If you want to do it alone, you’ve got to pick another sport.”