PHILADELPHIA — A.J. Brown had a novel idea to pass time on the bench during Philadelphia’s wild-card playoff game. The Eagles wide receiver passed on the playbook and checked out an inspirational title — Brown casually ignored the action on the field and flipped through the pages of “Inner Excellence” by Jim Murphy.

Brown was not involved in the Eagles’ passing plan for most of a 22-10 wild-card round at Lincoln Financial Field.

Eagles wide receiver A.J. Brown ignited a public kerfuffle Sunday when he was spotted reading a book — Inner Excellence: Train Your Mind for Extraordinary Performance and the Best Possible Life, by Jim Murphy — to inspire himself during the team’s wild-card victory over the Green Bay Packers.