With star wide receiver A.J. Brown eligible to return from IR this week, the New England Patriots are hoping to get a major boost to their offense. For now, though, it remains unclear if he’ll be able to come back after only spending the minimum amount of time on IR.
Patriots head coach Mike Vrabel wasn’t surprised to hear the question when he appeared on The Greg Hill Show on Monday. He wasn’t willing to set a timeline for Brown’s return yet, though.
“I don’t know whenever he’ll be back he should help us,” Vrabel said. “I hope that he’s going to help us. But that remains to be seen yet when he’ll be back. So, we’ll see how he does today and move from there.”
Brown only played just over a half of football this season for the Patriots. In Week 1, he got twisted on a tackle and suffered a high ankle sprain. Initial estimates were calling for it to be a six-week injury or so, but there has been recent hope that he’d progress a bit quicker than that.
Recent A.J. Brown Reports Have Been Encouraging for the New England Patriots
Had recent reports around A.J. Brown not been encouraging, then there likely wouldn’t be any questions about his return this week. However, there has been a string of positive updates, which implied the Patriots could be getting their star receiver back sooner rather than later.
Last Wednesday, it was reported that Brown was inside the Patriots locker room. When he walked, there was no noticeable limp, despite the high ankle sprain. This was obviously a great sign, even if he wasn’t eligible to come off IR at that point.
Then, prior to the Las Vegas Raiders game, it was also implied by Phil Perry of NBC Sports Boston that the fact that the Patriots haven’t added a new wide receiver is a good sign. It means that they seem to be confident enough that these wide receiver injuries are a short-term issue, not a long-term concern.
None of that is proof that Brown will be back before the Patriots play the New York Jets next week. However, reading between the lines, it does appear that he’s trending in the right direction.
Mike Vrabel Praised the Patriots Wide Receivers
Going into the blowout win over the Raiders, the Patriots were battling major injury concerns. That was at multiple positions, including wide receiver. Beyond A.J. Brown, Mack Hollins had suffered a calf injury in the week prior and wasn’t able to play.
Still, the supporting cast of wide receivers stepped up in a major way. Quarterback Drake Maye threw for 374 yards and 4 touchdowns in the win. In total, six different Patriots had multiple receptions, and four of those receivers had 57 or more yards receiving. Kyle Williams had 91 yards, to lead the team, and a touchdown. Then, Pop Douglas managed 2 touchdown catches to lead the way.
“All of them,” Vrabel said after the win. “You know what I mean? They’re all ready to go. They all play different positions. That’s not easy, you know, to learn three different positions and being able to step in there and block and make plays. The ball found each and every one of them. And I think Todd [Downing] does a great job, and I think they all care about each other. Those receivers, they, they don’t care who catches the ball. They don’t care who catches a touchdown. They’re just as excited for the next guy if it was them, and I think that that’s truly what we wanna build around here, you know? And I gotta get it to be the entire team. I gotta get the entire team to look at it like that.”
If that unit can maintain that level of play, while adding Brown back to the lineup, the Patriots will really be in business. Still, making sure Brown is fully healthy is more important in the long run than the Jets game next week.
Patriots Injury Update: Mike Vrabel Latest on A.J. Brown Return Ahead of Jets