AJ Brown is so checked out of Eagles passing game he's reading a book on the sideline

Remember back in December, when the football world spent several days discussing what had gone wrong with the Philadelphia Eagles' moribund passing game — and whether receiver AJ Brown and quarterback Jalen Hurts had secretly begun to hate each other? Both players seemed unhappy, and even their own teammates thought something was up.

As Philly's offense got back on track and the team cruised to an NFC East title and the No. 2 seed, it began to feel like a different lifetime. But it was, in reality, just a few weeks ago. Those wounds are still fresh, and despite a convincing win over the Green Bay Packers in the Wild Card Round on Sunday afternoon, they may have been reopened. Either that, or Brown is just really, really committed to bettering his mind at all times.

AJ Brown's sideline reading reopens old Jalen Hurts controversy

Philly had no problems with Green Bay, manhandling the Packers up front on both sides of the ball en route to a comfortable win in which they never trailed. Given that favorable game script — the Packers fumbled on the opening kickoff and found themselves down 10-0 in a blink — perhaps it's unsurprising that the Eagles never really had to open up the offense all that much. Hurts threw for just 131 yards on 21 attempts, only three of which went to Brown, who caught one pass for 10 yards on the night.

Still, even if you're not getting a ton of attention on the field, fully reading a book on the sidelines during an NFL playoff game feels a little too checked out, no?

Yet that's exactly what FOX cameras spotted Brown doing after Philly kicked a field goal to take a 19-10 lead in the fourth quarter. The wideout didn't seem particularly perturbed, so it's tough to tell whether this was a way to express frustration over his lack of involvement in the offense. Maybe he was just brushing up on some leadership advice: Thanks to some internet sleuthing, we now know the book Brown was reading was Inner Excellence by Jim Murphy. Here's the plot synopsis, courtesy of its Amazon listing.

"Want Guaranteed Freedom and Confidence When You Perform? Discover the life guide that has developed world champions, empowered athletes to become world #1, and most importantly, transformed their hearts and minds. This step-by-step training manual from one of the world's top mental skills coaches will teach you how to train your mind like the very best."

Hey, in fairness, that does seem like something an athlete would like to read, and something a wide receiver looking to get back on the same page with his quarterback would need to hear. Unclear as of yet whether Brown has succeeded in transforming hearts and minds, but we'll see.