The New England Patriots righted the ship after a tough Thursday Night Football loss to the Chicago Bears, when on Sunday they stormed back from a 10-point halftime deficit to beat the Miami Dolphins 24-19.
But the win may have once again cost them the wide receiver the Patriots acquired in the offseason, and who was supposed to serve as quarterback Drake Maye's No. 1 option.
As the Patriots opened their practice week before their game Sunday against the Green Bay Packers, head coach Mike Vrabel made a troubling announcement on that receiver's status.
Wide receiver A.J. Brown would sit out practice for a third straight session on Wednesday, leaving his availability for Sunday's game against Green Bay up in the air.
The Patriots wide receiver has now missed more games than he has played since the blockbuster trade that brought him from Philadelphia, and two separate injuries now hamper his chances of playing.
Vrabel confirmed Brown would not take part because of his knee, according to The Athletic's Chad Graff. Running back TreVeyon Henderson and defensive tackle Christian Barmore also sat out with illnesses.
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Brown's Patriots debut ended early in the third quarter Sept. 9 at Seattle, when Seahawks cornerback Nehemiah Pritchett's knee landed on Brown's ankle on an incomplete throw from Maye. He had caught 3 passes for 26 yards.
The diagnosis was a high ankle sprain, and the Patriots placed him on injured reserve for a minimum of four games.
Brown returned to practice Oct. 14 and made his comeback Oct. 18 against the New York Jets, finishing with 3 catches on 10 targets for 27 yards. Brown dropped multiple passes, and said he was "pushing through" the ankle injury still limiting his explosiveness.
Four days later, on a short week at Chicago, he caught 3 of 6 targets for 48 yards.
The knee flared up during practice last Wednesday.
"Just like everything else, when you come out of the game or a long week or practice on Monday, you evaluate the player. He just wasn't able to practice or finish practice on Wednesday, and so we continue to treat him, and then we'll see where he is tomorrow," Vrabel said, according to the Boston Herald.
Brown then missed practice Thursday and Friday and was ruled out for Sunday's game at Miami, his fifth missed game of the season.
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The knee trouble is nothing new for Brown. Patriots executive vice president of player personnel Eliot Wolf acknowledged a degenerative condition after the trade in June.
"It's a factor, but we examined him. He's got a knee that has some wear and tear that we were aware of. Our training staff and medical staff signed off on it," Wolf said, according to Yahoo Sports.
Brown underwent cleanup surgery on both knees in January 2021 after missing time with a knee bone bruise in 2020 with the Tennessee Titans.
In four seasons with the Philadelphia Eagles, he missed one regular-season game and one playoff game because of knee designations, while hamstring injuries cost him three games in 2024 and one in 2025.
Vrabel pushed back on knee reports at training camp in July, saying he thinks "a lot of things get fabricated, and people tell stories," according to NBC Sports.
Thursday and Friday practices will shape Brown's injury designation, and the last time he missed practice with these injuries, he sat out the game. New England also has DeMario Douglas, Kyle Williams and Efton Chism at receiver.
Through three games, Brown has 9 catches on 20 targets for 101 yards and no touchdowns, an average of 11.2 yards a catch.
His career average sits near 15.3 yards a catch, and he topped 1,000 yards in six seasons.
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