The Philadelphia Eagles took a three-point lead over the San Francisco 49ers into halftime of their wild-card matchup, but the first half wasn’t without sideline drama for the reigning Super Bowl champions.
After the Eagles were forced to punt after a three-and-out possession, their head coach, Nick Sirianni, sprinted down the sideline to confront wide receiver A.J. Brown. Fox cameras caught Sirianni and Brown jawing back and forth at each other before Eagles senior advisor to the general manager ‘Big Dom’ DiSandro stepped in to separate the two.
Quarterback Jalen Hurts had targeted Brown on his two throws immediately prior to Philadelphia’s punt near the end of the first half. Despite both throws landing near the wideout, Brown was unable to come away with a reception on either play.
After the ensuing punt, the Eagles managed to prevent the 49ers from scoring before halftime. That kept the reigning champs ahead with a 13-10 lead with 30 minutes to play in the final NFC wild-card game.
‘Emotions, they run high, especially in the playoffs,’ Sirianni said of the confrontation, per Fox sideline reporter Erin Andrews. ‘We’re just fine, thanks.’
Brown had been the subject of several off-the-field storylines during the regular season. The Eagles’ star wide receiver publicly aired several grievances about his usage on social media and on a video game livestream on the website Twitch.tv. Brown said he was ‘struggling’ and told fantasy managers with him on their teams to drop him, all while playing as the Eagles in the Madden NFL video game and quipping about getting himself the ball in the simulated game.
Philadelphia’s lead wideout ended the 2025 regular season with 78 catches for 1,003 yards and seven touchdowns.
Brown finished the first half against the 49ers with three catches on five targets for 25 yards on Jan. 11.