A.J. Brown came back from a high-ankle sprain with a week to rebuild his rhythm and a Thursday night game already on the calendar. The Patriots’ decision to ease him in made sense on paper. The first result was uneven.
How the injury happened
Brown went down 30 snaps into his Patriots debut in Seattle, on a low catch attempt early in the third quarter of the opener against the Seahawks. He had already caught three passes for 26 yards and drawn a 34-yard pass interference penalty that set up New England’s only touchdown. The injury put a highly anticipated season on hold for a lifelong Pats fan.
The team had paid heavily to get him. New England sent a 2028 first-round pick to Philadelphia in June to make him quarterback Drake Maye’s go-to target, pairing him with free-agent addition Romeo Doubs. Brown arrived as a second-round pick of the Tennessee Titans in 2019, a Pro Bowler in 2020, and a Super Bowl LIX winner with the Eagles.
Four games out, then a ramp-up
The Patriots activated Brown from injured reserve on the Saturday before their home game against the Jets, after a four-game absence. The calendar worked against any full-throttle return. New England was due in Chicago on a short week for Thursday Night Football, which meant two games in five days and little practice time between them. The Jets game, the team figured, would be a ramp-up as he rebuilt conditioning.
Maye argued that Brown’s presence alone would help. “It definitely opens up other parts of the field and other parts of the game for guys,” he said, comparing it to basketball, where doubling the best player leaves someone open elsewhere. Brown was expected to take most of his snaps at the X receiver spot, with Doubs and possibly Efton Chism III on the other side, DeMario Douglas in the slot on passing downs, and Kyle Williams spelling him.
A rough home debut
New England beat the Jets 26-19, but Brown’s afternoon was hard to watch. He couldn’t hold a deep shot from Maye that hit his fingertips, dropped a touchdown pass in the back of the end zone, and then dropped back-to-back passes on third and fourth down, which gave the Jets the ball back. Late in the game he botched the Jets’ onside kick, and Douglas recovered it. Brown finished with three catches for 27 yards.
On Patriots Postgame Live, Tom E. Curran called it “a little bit jaw-dropping” to see Brown struggle to catch the ball. Ted Johnson thought he looked “timid,” perhaps back before he was ready. Phil Perry saw it differently on mobility, which was the larger worry after a high-ankle sprain: “I thought he actually moved OK.” The hands, though, he put down to rust, and asked whether a short week could fix it.
Sources
- A. J. Brown
- Roster Analysis: Patriots activate WR A.J. Brown for Sundayâs game vs. the Jets in Week 6
- Sloppy win for Patriots, with A.J. Brown's drops a major letdown
Photo: Fredrick Lee / Unsplash (Unsplash License)
