Cheers from the stands of Gillette Stadium soured to boos in A.J. Brown’s first game back from injured reserve—despite the Patriots’ 26-19 win over the rival Jets—indicating how expectations for the All-Pro receiver are much higher than the drop-heavy performance he put forward on Sunday.
Quarterback Drake Maye targeted Brown more than any other pass catcher on the field, but keeping his eyes on No. 1 didn’t re-spark the connection the two found back in August during training camp.
Brown finished the day with 3 catches on 10 targets for 27 yards. The sprained ankle that sidelined him for four games following Week 1 wasn’t an apparent problem against New York. Instead, Brown dropped three of Maye’s passes, including a perfectly accurate deep shot in the first quarter and an end-zone strike in the second. He also let the Jets' onside kick fly through his hands, although it was still recovered by his team.
The plays were uncharacteristic of the 29-year-old. He had just a 0.8% drop rate (one drop) last year with the Eagles and a 0% rate the year before. His three drops Sunday were a career high (or low, depending on how you look at it).
Let this much be clear: Week 6 was not the performance the Patriots were hoping for from Brown, for whom they traded a first-round and fifth-round pick (in 2028 and 2027, respectively). However, it’s still too early to feel buyer’s remorse about bringing him to New England.
As previously noted, Brown looked healthy enough on Sunday. He just looked rustier than farm equipment on the set of The Texas Chain Saw Massacre. He looked like a fella who spent a month away from practicing with a quarterback and offense new to him, despite having a full summer of training camp under his belt.
The Maye-Brown connection took a week or two to warm up back then, too. While Maye typically shares the love with his pass catchers rather than favoring one or two targets all season, it can take a bit for him to build in-game timing. Look at DeMario Douglas, the second-most targeted pass catcher on Sunday: Maye targeted Douglas 8 times, and he caught 7 of those passes for 86 yards and a touchdown. (He also had a terrible fumble on a 40-yard completion in the fourth quarter, but his other numbers still stand, and Douglas should buy the Patriots’ defense dinner after they held the Jets to a field goal off the turnover.) Anyway, the point is that just two weeks ago, Douglas was barely a blip on Maye’s radar as the QB favored big man Mack Hollins and recent addition Romeo Doubs. Hunter Henry, usually a safety valve for Patriots quarterbacks, was similarly quiet until the Patriots took down the Buffalo Bills in Week 4. Douglas now has 2 touchdowns in 2 weeks. Henry has a touchdown and 182 yards.
A man’s place in an offense can change quickly when Maye is slinging the ball.
The Patriots will need Brown to improve, and not just because of what they gave up to acquire his talent. The aforementioned Hollins is on injured reserve, and Doubs was unable to return to the game after injuring his shoulder on a diving end-zone catch during his only target of the day.
Brown started the year coming off four consecutive seasons with more than 1,000 yards. He didn’t suddenly forget how to catch the ball.
"He just needs to get back into rhythm," Brown's current and former Eagles teammate Milton Williams said postgame. "It's his first game back. I know those moments, you want to make a play so bad, it just ain't happening. But I'm not worried about A.J., he's going to continue to get the ball. Drake's going to continue to pass to him. He's going to make those plays."
Any receiver brought into this iteration of the team will naturally draw comparisons to Stefon Diggs, the strong-handed veteran New England released in the spring. Brown is a better and younger receiver, but another set of expectations centers on what he can provide if New England makes another playoff run—because that’s where Diggs came up short last year. We’ve got quite some time before reaching that measuring stick.
The truth is that this connection, and Brown’s place in a new offense, is a bit more of a work in progress than many of us (this writer included) may have expected given his résumé.
