Eagles’ AJ Brown, 49ers’ Jimmie Ward separated by refs after pre-game scuffle

The NFC Championship between the Philadelphia Eagles and San Francisco 49ers got chippy before kickoff. 

Eagles star receiver A.J. Brown and 49ers top cornerback Jimmie Ward, who will be seeing a lot of each other on Sunday at Lincoln Financial Field, got in each other’s face during warmups with some pushing and shoving involved. 

While Brown was bending down, Ward pushed through him to get to his side of the field, but the former took exception to that, pushing him back. 

Ward immediately turned around and got into Brown’s face, and the two started pushing and shoving to the point where referees had to step in to break it up. 

Of course, the stakes are high in this contest that will send one team to Super Bowl LVII in Arizona, while the other’s season will end. But this trash talk between both sides is likely just the start to what NFL fans will be seeing in this first of two championship games.

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Ward, alongside his counterpart Charvarius Ward, will keep a close eye on Brown all game after he strung together fantastic numbers in his first season with the Eagles following the trade from the Tennessee Titans. 

Brown totaled 88 receptions (145 targets) for 1,496 yards with 11 touchdowns, tying his career-high in that category from the 2020 season. 

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Ward, who has been with the Niners since they drafted him 30th overall in the 2014 NFL Draft, had three interceptions, five passes defended and 50 combined tackles in 12 regular-season games this season. He also made the final tackle last week against the Dallas Cowboys on their last-ditch trick play that was immediately put to rest to move on to the championship round. 

We’ll see what kind of pressure each side puts on the other Sunday in Philly.