He's having a historic season, but don't remind A.J. Brown about it

The honors and accolades and records keep piling up, and through it all A.J. Brown has one goal in mind.

Ignore it. All of it.

Brown, who’s on a record-setting receiving streak, said Wednesday he doesn’t get caught up in any of the records or honors because that would interfere with the only thing that matters to him, which is grinding. Working. Improving.

So when his teammates began congratulating him on Wednesday after he was named NFC Offensive Player of the Month, he politely told them to stop.

“Man, they definitely showed me some love,” he said. “But I kind of quieted it down. I told them we got to go to work today.”

And that’s exactly how Brown is wired. And exactly why he’s taken his place as one of the top wide receivers in the world.

Because there are no distractions. There is no celebrating his achievements. No time for that.

Even after he became the first player in NFL history with six straight 125-yard games, the third player in NFL history with 700 yards in a month, the first wide receiver in Eagles history named Player of the Month.

“It's kind of just how I was raised,” Brown said at his locker Wednesday. “Me having the desire to be one of the best to play this game. As soon as you stop working, as soon as you stop learning, you stop growing. It's not what I'm trying to do. I'm trying to continue to push myself each and every day and challenge my teammates and continue to grow.

“The next game, the next game, the next opportunity. That's all I can focus on, you know? I can’t worry about what I did yesterday, last week, none of that, last year. I’ve got to come to work and keep growing. The guys in front of me who are defending me are going to be just as happy to try to stop me. So I’ve got to keep working, keep cleaning things up, keep growing.”

Brown is almost halfway to one of the greatest seasons in NFL history. At his current pace – which admittedly would be difficult to maintain – he’d set an NFL record with 1,995 receiving yards. Yeah, 17-game season, but still, his 117 yards per game so far is 5^th-highest in history.

Through it all, he’s the same humble, hard-working kid who was drafted in the middle of the second round and averaged less than 1,000 yards in his three years with the Titans.

“I'm blessed and I know where my blessings come from and also I just have to remain who I am, you know?” he said. “And that is a person who doesn’t worry about stuff like that because then you get surprised and  you get so high then somebody come knock you off your pedestal so if I can stay even keel the entire time then I'll be just fine.”

If Brown ever feels himself losing that focus, he thinks back to the first few weeks of his NFL career. 

In his first NFL game, opening day 2019, he had three catches for 100 yards in the Titans’ 43-13 win over the Browns in Cleveland, including a 51-yard catch from Marcus Mariota. Two weeks later, in a loss to Gardner Minshew and the Jaguars in Jacksonville, he had one catch. For four yards.

“My first game in the league I had 100 yards and I was like, ‘OK, I can do this,’” Brown said. “And then I got humbled. (In the Jaguars game) I went against some really good corners, I won't say against who (A.J. Bouye and Jalen Ramsey), but I had four yards and it definitely humbled me. 

“So it taught me right then and there, I got to stay locked in and keep working. The journey is never over.”

Like all the current Eagles who were on the team last year, there’s an emptiness from unfinished business in the Super Bowl.

The Eagles have followed last year’s 14-3 record with a 7-1 start this year, and with a win over the Cowboys Sunday at the Linc, they’ll take a huge step toward the No. 1 seed and another first-round bye.

There’s no shortage of motivation for Brown. And that loss in Arizona is at the top of the list.

“We didn't finish the way we wanted to last year. Just having that buried in your heart. It wasn't enough. We did some special things last year, but it wasn't enough. So it's like, all right, what we gotta do now? We gotta work even harder. We gotta push ourselves even more. 

“So I think that's what we're doing. … And whenever we get to the postseason, we do what we do.”