New England Patriots wide receiver A.J. Brown didn’t just cause a stir on social media with his injury in Week 1. Brown went viral this weekend with a moment that took place before he suffered a high-ankle sprain.
The Patriots showcased a clip of Brown firing a message to the team’s offensive line during the matchup versus the Seattle Seahawks last Thursday. New England included the clip in a 3-minute long video on YouTube.
SleeperHQ’s Carlos A. Lopez, took just the part of the video featuring Brown and posted the clip as a 6-second video. Here’s what Brown said in the video:
“If y’all boys just could hold up, we gonna score this [expletive],” Brown yelled at his offensive linemen on the bench. “They cannot [expletive] with none of us at wide receiver, I’m telling you.
“We running wide open, you hear me?”
The video went viral with 5.5 million view in under 12 hours.
Patriots’ A.J. Brown Under Fire After Sideline Video Goes Viral
In addition to 5.5 million views, the short clip from Lopez received more than 400 replies. Most of them were criticism sent to Brown over how he addressed his offensive line teammates in the clip.
“He’s already asking other players to play better,” wrote Way Outside the Nest Podcast with three laughing emojis.
“It’s always everybody but him,” wrote Big Bird Gang.
“They can’t stand him already,” wrote Eagleyez17.
A lot of the criticism came from bitter Philadelphia Eagles fans. Brown spent four seasons with the Eagles, earning two NFC championships and a Super Bowl title. But things went south for Brown with Philadelphia in 2025.
But not all the criticism was from Philadelphia fans.
“Wide open lol the only time he was wide open was the flea flicker and Drake under threw the ball by like 8 yards,” wrote a Seahawks fan.
“Their receivers had like 80 yards combined all game,” wrote another Seahawks fan.
The important thing is it didn’t appear Patriots fans were turning on Brown over the viral social media video. And honestly, if it was a problem with the team, then it’s doubtful the Patriots would have included the clip on YouTube.
This isn’t the case of a third party or journalist releasing a scoop from the sidelines. Everything in the Patriots YouTube video the team approved.
Still, the popularity of the clip and loud criticism from it was very notable.
In the end, Brown looks a little bit silly. Maybe things were trending in that direction when the receiver fired the message to the offensive line, but the line ended the game playing pretty well. Meanwhile, the receivers didn’t. While Brown left with an injury, Romeo Doubs made a key drop right before one of quarterback Drake Maye’s interceptions.
The Patriots will try to rebound next weekend against the Pittsburgh Steelers. Brown, though, will miss at least four weeks on injured reserve recovering from his right high-ankle sprain.
Patriots’ A.J. Brown Catching Heat for Viral Sideline Video From Week 1