Jalen Hurts and AJ Brown solve their issues on the field, rather than off

The Philadelphia Eagles spent most of this week answering questions about the relationship between quarterback Jalen Hurts and wide receiver A.J. Brown. Once close friends, the two seemed to be at odds during last week's bumpy win over the Carolina Panthers, with Brown pointedly suggesting that the team needed to work on its passing game while Hurts gave only the gruffest possible responses during his own postgame interview. When veteran defender Brandon Graham suggested the two weren't even talking much anymore, speculation went into overdrive, and while everyone involved later tried to downplay the tension, the specter of last season's late collapse loomed over everything.

But this isn't 2023, and this year's Eagles aren't last year's Eagles. Rather than continue to insist that everything was hunky-dory in the media, everyone involved did something that last season's team could never do: They went and proved it with their play on the field.

Jalen Hurts, A.J. Brown silence critics with early TD connection against Steelers

It didn't take Hurts and Brown long to allay everybody's concerns about the state of their relationship and Philly's passing game. After picking up a field goal on Philly's opening possession, the offense got rolling again late in the third quarter, capping a long drive with a five-yard strike from Hurts to Brown on a slant route — exactly the sort of RPO concept that the duo feasted on en route to big numbers last season.

And in case that wasn't proof enough, Brown knew exactly what to do after the play, immediately coming right up to Hurts and hitting a truly spectacular celebration.

Of course, one play doesn't cure everything that ails this offense, and it doesn't mean that Brown and Hurts have let bygones be bygones and are now best friends once again. As much as they want to insist otherwise, there was clearly simmering tension behind each player's comments last week, and this passing game has been limited and overly simplistic at times — whether because of Kellen Moore's scheme, Hurts' failure to see the field quickly, Brown's own route-running or a combination of the three. It's entirely possible that the offense will hit the skids again for a quarter or a game at a time, and all of the old cracks will start to show.

But what this moment does prove, at the very least, is that this Eagles team is more resilient than the one that flamed out in spectacular fashion down the stretch of last season. That locker room didn't seem to have any answers when things went south, content to point the finger at everyone else as the situation only got worse. There are still questions to answer about the leadership of Hurts and head coach Nick Sirianni, but coming out hot like this both shows that the offense can excel against a good defense and that the team can rally when it faces adversity.