Help is on the way for the New England Patriots offense. Head coach Mike Vrabel announced the team has opened the practice window for receiver AJ Brown and he will be on the field Wednesday. Brown suffered a high ankle sprain in the team’s season-opening loss to the Seattle Seahawks, which landed him on injured reserve.
Week 6 was the earliest Brown could be activated from IR, so the fact that he’s able to return to practice at this point is a positive sign that his ankle is healing at a good rate.
“I don’t know. He hasn’t been there,” Vrabel said when asked what Brown’s impending return means for the offense. “I can’t really tell you until we see it. He’s been out for four weeks, so we’ll get him back out there to practice and see if he’s ready to go in a few days. If not, a 21-day window and we’ll go from there.”
New England will now have 21 days to move Brown to the active roster or he will go back on injured reserve for the rest of the season. However, it’s unlikely it will take that long before he finally gets back on the 53-man roster and back on the field.
“I think he stayed engaged,” Vrabel said of Brown’s battle with the injury. “I think sometimes it’s hard to stay engaged, but I think his routine has been really good. His ability to be there for the guys on dates and also focus on his rehab. He’s just being professional, being where he needs to be and working hard to get back.”
While it’s unclear if Brown will be ready for the club’s Week 6 matchup against the New York Jets, there is one wrinkle in the team’s schedule worth noting. After this home matchup with the Jets, New England has a short week before they take on the Bears in Chicago on Thursday Night Football as they begin Week 7. Given the tight turnaround, it’s fair to wonder if the Patriots will play Brown slow, waiting for him to return to that game.
“We obviously know we have a shortened week next week,” Vrabel said. “We can’t influence our decisions to do everything we can to win this week and figure out where we are after that.”
Brown was acquired in a blockbuster trade with the Eagles this offseason. New England sent a 2027 fifth-round pick and a 2028 first-round pick to Philadelphia in exchange for the star pass catcher. In addition to giving the Patriots a top-tier weapon, the trade also reunites Brown with Vrabel, who coached him when he first entered the league as a second-round pick of the Tennessee Titans in 2019.
Last season for the Eagles, Brown caught 78 balls for 1,003 yards and seven touchdowns. In his brief appearance with the Patriots in Week 1, the 29-year-old caught three of four targets for 26 yards.
Drake Maye will only get better with AJ Brown
One of the top stories in the NFL over the past two weeks has been the resurgence of Drake Maye. Of particular note was the return of the midfielder’s deep ball efficiency. After being hailed as one of the best deep ball shooters in the league during his second MVP season in 2025, he fell through the first three weeks of the year. But in the previous two games paid back in a big way.
Completions/attempts | 9/23 | 11/18 |
Percentage of completion | 39% | 61% |
TD-INT | 0-4 | 3-0 |
Once Brown is officially reintroduced to the offense, there’s an argument to be made for those numbers to not only be maintained, but even improved.