FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — A.J. Brown emerged from the Patriots’ indoor training facility wearing a blue No. 1 jersey and jogged across a field filled with his former Eagles teammates. Guys he went to battle with. Guys he won a Super Bowl with. He didn’t slow down for any pleasantries. Brown si mply patted his hand over his heart, jogged up the hill, and joined his new team ahead of a joint practice against his former team in New England. He was all business until catching up with some of his former teammates after practice ended. “It was love,” Brown said. “I know I’m on the opposing team right now but I still felt some love.” After four pretty incredible seasons with the Eagles, Brown wanted a fresh start and was granted that in early June when he was traded to the Patriots in a deal that brought back a 2028 first-round pick. While Brown on Wednesday said it’s “all love” with the Eagles, he wasn’t very interested in talking about the past. “Nah, it’s not about no closure or anything,” Brown said after Wednesday’s joint practice concluded. “It’s love. I won a Super Bowl ring with them. It’s always going to be love no matter how anyone feels. I love Philly and I will always love Philly. But I’m here now and this is where my feet are and that’s where I’m focusing on.” During his four seasons in Philly, Brown had over 5,000 receiving yards, went to two Super Bowls and won a Super Bowl to cap the 2024 season. Brown was incredibly successful in Philly and the Eagles were incredibly successful with Brown. So that really leaves just one question: Why — despite all that success — did Brown desire a fresh start? “I’m here now,” Brown answered. “I’m not going backwards.” After Wednesday’s joint practice concluded, Brown did chat with several of his former teammates, but not Jalen Hurts. Not only was Hurts his quarterback for four seasons, but the two once considered each other to be best friends. It’s obvious that Brown and Hurts no longer have a tight relationship. Brown even said he has not talked to Hurts since the trade back on June 1. How did Brown leave things with Hurts at the time of the trade? “Philly, man. Y’all tough,” Brown said. “Man, it’s love. Listen, honestly, guys, none of that stuff even matters. You all should want to report something positive. You know asking the question is going to turn negative. Let’s not get into that. Let’s keep everything positive. It’s love my way. Just move forward. That’s all.” Both Brown and Hurts said they would perhaps connect this week if they crossed paths — but neither seems likely to go out of their way. During this joint practice, the 29-year-old Brown certainly still looked like an elite receiver. He saw a bunch of targets and was able to beat Quinyon Mitchell and Riq Woolen in coverage throughout the day. Brown and Mitchell had some great battles over the last two years and they were back at it again on Wednesday. Although this felt a little different. “It was a little more amped up going against him, knowing the battles we had in Philly,” Mitchell said. “It was great to go up against him today and we got some good work in today.” While Mitchell was able to knock down a pass to Brown in a 1-on-1 drill to start the day, Brown caught a bunch of passes against the Eagles’ defense throughout the rest of the session. Brown said that there was actually no trash talking with Mitchell during this practice. “It’s love between me and Q, man,” Brown said. “That’s little bro. And I’m not trying to big bro him either. I got so much respect for him. He’s an All-Pro and he’s going to continue to get better.” Brown was asked if he’s in a better place mentally now that he’s in New England, but he pushed back against the question. He claims he wasn’t in a bad place mentally in Philly. There were some incredible highs for Brown during his time with the Eagles, but things ended on a low note. He had one of his worst performances in a playoff loss to the 49ers back in January. In that wild-card exit, Brown had just 3 catches for 25 yards with 3 drops in his last game ever as an Eagle. When asked if he had a message to Eagles fans, Brown delivered this: “I love you and I’m not looking in the past,” he said. “That game, no I didn’t play my best. But I’m not going backwards. It doesn’t exist and that’s the last question I’m going to answer about the past.” ...read more read less