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Big Dom breaks up confrontation between Eagles WR AJ Brown, Nick Sirianni after incompletion vs. 49ers

Meby: Nick Geddes01/11/26NickGeddesNews

Tensions boiled over between Philadelphia Eagles wide receiver AJ Brown and head coach Nick Sirianni during the second quarter of Sunday’s NFC Wild Card Round game against the San Francisco 49ers. The two got into a heated exchange on the sideline after Brown dropped a deep pass from quarterback Jalen Hurts on a critical third down.

Philadelphia had to punt the football back to the 49ers before halftime and Sirianni wasn’t happy. Brown and Sirianni had to be separated by Dom DiSandro, the team’s senior advisor to the general manager/chief security officer/ gameday coaching operations.

FOX Sports sideline reporter Erin Andrews spoke with Sirianni about the incident. She summarized the interaction on the broadcast.

“He said, ‘Emotions, they run high, especially in the playoffs,'” Andrews said. “He said, ‘Of course, after this game, we’ll go back to loving each other but look, this is just the way it is. We’re just fine, thanks.'”

Michael Strahan didn’t agree with Sirianni approaching Brown the way he did. Commenting during halftime, Strahan called out Sirianni for “taking away from the team and the energy of the team.”

“Don’t look like they’re having as much fun as they should,” Strahan said. “I don’t understand why Sirianni is running down there and yelling at one of his star players, AJ Brown. You know AJ Brown wanted to get involved in the game I’m pretty sure. Hadn’t seen the ball. They took two big shots with him and didn’t catch either one. Maybe he said get me a shot and the coach said, ‘OK, you had your chance, you better catch the ball next time.’”

AJ Brown, Nick Sirianni not on same page in playoff game vs. 49ers

The frustration was evident from both in a playoff game where Philadelphia currently has a 13-10 advantage. Brown, understandably, wants to be a major part of the Eagles’ offense. It’s been an ongoing theme throughout the season as at times, offensive coordinator Kevin Patullo has failed to get Brown opportunities.

He dialed up one for Brown late in the second quarter, and the former Ole Miss star didn’t come through. Brown has three catches for 25 yards, second only to DeVonta Smith in targets.

Brown’s production picked up quite a bit in the second half of the season after a slow start. The 28-year-old had three 100-yard plus receiving games in his last six games of the regular season. Brown surpassed the 1,000-yard mark for the fourth consecutive season and the sixth time in his seven-year career.