How did A.J. Brown spend the bye week as his name swirled around trade rumors ahead of the deadline?

He spent time in the backyard playing football with his son.

Did he think there was a chance he would get traded?

“I don’t know. I think it’s the nature of the business,” Brown said by his locker on Thursday. “But my focus was to be present with my family, my kids and get healthy.”

And Brown, 28, is healthy. After missing the Eagles’ Week 8 game against the Giants with a hamstring injury, the bye week did his body good. He returned to practice on Thursday as a full participant.

Brown fully expects to be on the field Monday night in Green Bay.

“I’m playing,” Brown said. “I’m good to go.”

The injury happened late in the Minnesota game after Brown ran a sluggo against former teammate Isaiah Rodgers. He said he ran through the hamstring pull so he knew it wasn’t serious. He said there’s just some scar tissue.

While Brown’s numbers have been down this season, he’s still widely considered one of the top receivers in the NFL and the Eagles will need him if they want a chance to repeat as Super Bowl champions.

That’s why the Eagles never seriously considered trading him.

“I think that when you’re trying to be a great team, it’s hard to trade great players,” Eagles GM Howie Roseman said after Tuesday’s trade deadline passed. “And A.J. Brown’s a great player. He wears the ‘C’ for a reason. He’s an important part of this team, of this organization.

“He cares about winning, he cares about his teammates, and I think that when you’re a team like ours that is looking forward to an opportunity to compete for a championship, you just don’t get rid of guys like that. We feel very lucky to have him on our team and excited about the second half of the season with him.”

Brown said he hadn’t even heard those comments from Roseman.

“Literally my focus has been on getting better and going home,” he said. “Nothing else.”

Brown was again asked if he wants to be in Philadelphia and his answer has not changed. He made it clear again publicly on Thursday that he does.

The latest round of speculation about Brown’s future seemed to kick off when, after his 121-yard performance against the Vikings, Brown posted on Instagram with the cryptic caption, “Using me but not using me.”

On Thursday, Brown was asked specifically about that caption.

“I’m not getting into all that,” he said. “I’m just going to focus on this week. We got Green Bay, great opponent.”

The Eagles traded for Brown during the 2022 draft. And in his first three seasons in Philly, Brown has had a ton of success. He has made two Pro Bowl teams, has gone over 1,000 yards all three seasons and went over 1,400 yards in 2022 and 2023. He was a huge piece helping the Eagles get to the Super Bowl in the 2022 season and was again a huge piece helping them win it all in 2024.

So what is it like to hear his name pop up in trade rumors the way it did over the last couple weeks?

“You can’t focus on it, you know,” Brown said. “My attention was on my family. Because what’s going to happen was going to happen. I can’t stop it.”