Tom Curran “not worried” about A.J. Brown's attitude with the Patriots in 2026

Tom Curran "not worried" about A.J. Brown's attitude with the Patriots in 2026 originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston

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Are you worried about, AJ Brown?

I am not.

Definitely not.

You're not?

Not in 2026, no.

The emotion of AJ Brown- I think he'll be on the- And all this stuff Nope.

I think he'll be on his best behavior.

Yeah.

Now, as Brady pointed out, some guys are gonna get the ball 110 times.

Davante Adams was targeted 180 times under Josh McDaniels.

How's Romeo Doubs gonna feel about that?

How's Keyshawn Booty, if he sticks around, gonna feel about that?

He's entering a contract year.

He's been a productive player.

He hasn't seen a ball in four weeks.

He's gonna be not that psyched.

So the emotional energy just doesn't have to be with the one, it has to be with the entire group.

So it'll be interesting because Brady would do that.

He would, I think, intercede and talk to a player and be proactive about it.

Brandon Lafell used to get the first throw every frigging game just to make sure that Brandon knew he was part of things back in like 2014.

Will May be like that, or would he leave that to McDaniels?

That's the next step I think.

I, I know somebody who's worried about- Yeah AJ Brown.

Well, I mean, I don't know if worried is the word, but- Yeah.

Or, or you think it's, it, it, it, it's an issue.

I think it's a bigger risk.

It's a bigger risk than people are- Absolutely letting on.

I- And tell me, tell me why it's far from a lock that people are letting on several different things.

Okay.

Okay?

Attitude is one.

I mean, he produced at a Pro Bowl level every year he was there in Philadelphia, and they won at a high level every year he was there in Philadelphia, yet he was miserable.

Okay?

Tells you how bad it was.

So that's, so that's like But, but that's a flag.

I mean, I- Yeah.

I see receivers get upset- Yeah all the time when they don't get the ball or their team sucks.

That happened to Randy Moss in Oakland before he got here.

That's not what happened with this guy.

Okay.

There's one.

Age, injury is something we talk about all the time.

Yeah, yeah.

Yeah.

I think that's one that's obvious as well.

Here's one that we haven't talked about so much.

System fit, you know?

It, the, the old Brady McDaniels offense had a hard time with a lot of receivers coming in from different systems.

Picking up the, you know, McDaniels, the word-based system versus the number-based system.

All the West Coast guys would come here and sometimes struggle with the McDaniels thing, and seeing the, you know, the McDaniels and Brady anyway, and this is what they want Mc- May to do, which is read the play after the snap.

Now you, you don't have to see what the quarterback sees pre-snap.

Now you get into it.

You gotta leverage the guy inside, outside zone, man.

All that comes together, and we've seen a lot of receivers- Well- sort of not fit in that regard.

So I, I think all these things are on the table for AJ Brown.

I would say, I would say that part is the least of my concerns with AJ Brown because when, when McDaniels was doing it, most teams were numbers based, and they weren't using words as much.

I think more teams are now using words than they did, you know, 10 years ago.

So I mean, think about it.

Nobody mentioned that last year for the, these Patriots wide receivers.

Okay.

Not for Demario Douglas.

But Steph Diggs.

Not for- Steph Diggs.

Not for Steph Diggs.

But he played for day ball.

I- And so I think there was- And, and but- probably some carryover there but, but, and here's the other thing I like, and you tell me if you, if you agree with this, Curran.

AJ Brown has been going up the quarterback ladder since he got into the league.

So his first quar- he, he had 1,000 yard, 20 yards of catch with Ryan Tannehill- Mm-hmm was his quarterback.

So his first quarterback is Ryan Tannehill.

Goes from Ryan Tannehill to Jalen Hurts.

Jalen Hurts is not a bad quarterback, but you guys think that Drake May is better than Jalen Hurts.

Definitely.

I think you do.

Yeah, yeah.

All right.

So he's gone from Tannehill to Hurts.

This is the best quarterback he's ever played with, and this is the best receiver that Drake May has ever played with.

I think the results are gonna be phenomenal.

I do too.

I really do.

And I'd say this.

Part of his mood, I think part of his agitation, even though they were having success is he looked at it sometimes as this is just bad offensive football.

I know we're ending up with more points than the other team, but what are we actually doing out here?

Okay.

But d- have you all saw the stuff about the, you know, him and Hurts and the trainer and the wives and like there's, there's- Oh.

Yeah.

There's that whole undercurrent too.

I mean, is it, is, i- is, and Brady's saying Real Housewives of the NFL.

Is there a re- you know, like, I don't know, just the drama associated with this guy.

Again, we've seen these guys come in, whether it's Corey Dillon.

And again, everybody has a different lineage.

I'm not drawing parallels.

But guys who were supposed to be pains in the ass someplace else come in, and then their first year here they are in utopia.

I, I'm in football paradise, and that's exactly what he said during mini camp.

Yeah.

I'm a pa- he was, grew up as a Patriots fan and- So I don't think it's 100- I can't believe I'm a Patriot.

No, it is.

But if that's- He was a Patriots fan if that's what you're going to send out there as your personal propaganda for the year, you're not gonna be kicking the kicking net, you know, if you don't get the ball enough.

Well, and, and Dobbs is another sneaky little one here where- Yes he's not a demonstrative guy, he's not a vocal guy.

But he's, he's a different kind of guy.

And he did have a thing in Green Bay where he was suspended for a game, and no one really knows exactly what it was.

They think it might be usage or his touches or something.

But it, he never talked about it, it never really came out.

It was assumed he was unhappy with his role in his o- in the offense, and it, something happened somewhere along the way.

But, you know, watch out for this guy 'cause I, I, I- Okay like him as a player a lot, but he's different.

So who does this go to?

Does it go to Vrabel?

Does it go to McDaniels?

Vrabel.

Or should it go to May?

Vrabel and May.

I think it should go to May.

Actually, I really think that this will be the next You listen to Tom Brady.

He was doing that.

I know he's 45, 46 years old, but that's how he sounded when he was- Exactly.

He's right- 23, 24, 25 right back there.

Yep.

He managed his group.

Yep.

Back then even.

Yeah, exactly.

So.

I, I, and he was, he was It's almost like - Okay.

Back then- I- was Dion Branch- Yeah David Givens, Tr- like the consummate pros across the board.

But too bad.

He's still It, it's gonna be his job to manage AJ Brown.

Not say, "Oh, I don't know what I'm supposed to do about that."

No, no.

It's, it's his job, but Brady had a, a really professional group around him, and a, a really stable group around him.

There weren't ball hogs.

You know, there was not a- But, yeah.

David Givens wasn't coming out of games- But yeah, but early giving the damn ball.

Okay.

So you're right.

He had a professional group early.

Then let's say mid Brady when he loses Givens and he loses Branch, and, you know, that year in 2006, and we know what happened in 2007.

And then late Brady where he was like pissy with everybody because he had N'Keal Harry, and he had a young Jakobi Meyers, and, and these guys, and he wasn't happy with it.

So I, I think it's not like he's had the same group every time and he didn't have to He had to manage different personalities at the receiver position-

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