National

A.J. Brown said he lost 7 pounds, busted blood vessel in eye while vomiting on Thanksgiving

A.J. Brown was not at his best on Sunday.

The Philadelphia Eagles receiver fumbled in the second quarter to set up a game-tying Green Bay Packers touchdown. On his next target, he dropped a second-down pass from Jalen Hurts in the final minutes before halftime.

It also turns out that he wasn't feeling well following a suboptimal Thanksgiving.

Brown told reporters after the game that he fell ill with a stomach bug over the holiday. He said that it caused him to lose seven pounds in a single day, and he burst a blood vessel in his eye while vomiting. Yikes.

"It was scary to me when I saw it," Brown said of the broken blood vessel, per the Philadelphia Inquirer. "Ain't nobody hit me, so it was scary to me."

The broken blood vessel was apparent in pregame photos and during his postgame locker-room access with media.

The illness caused Brown to miss practice time last week. But he was cleared in time for Sunday's game against Green Bay. And it wasn't all bad for the first-year Eagles receiver on Sunday.

Brown caught a third-down pass after his second-down drop to keep alive a touchdown drive before halftime. After the break, he caught a touchdown pass of his own to extend Philadelphia's lead to 34-20 in the Eagles' 40-33 win. He finished the game with four catches for 46 yards and the score.

After a standout three-year stint with the Tennessee Titans to start his career that included a Pro Bowl, Brown's on pace for a career season while catching passes from Jalen Hurts on a 10-1 Eagles team. In 11 games, Brown's tallied 53 catches for 831 yards and seven touchdowns.

He should be plenty motivated for Week 13. Up next is a date with the Titans in Philadelphia, his first matchup with the team that traded him during the offseason. Here's guessing that Brown's looking to get back to peak physical form in time for Sunday.