PHILADELPHIA — As the Philadelphia Eagles mounted a two-possession lead halfway through the fourth quarter, A.J. Brown took his seat on the sideline bench and reached to his right.
Grabbing his well-worn copy of “Inner Excellence,” Brown thumbed to a bright yellow-highlighted, blue-underlined page of the mental skills book.
He began to read.
Yes: The Eagles' star receiver read from a printed book in the middle of a 2025 NFL playoff game.
“In the pursuit of extraordinary performance, it’s easy to succumb to anxiety and pressure, because so much is out of your control,” Brown read on page 2 of the mindset book by Jim Murphy.