A
he New England Patriots not only suffered an ugly loss to the Seattle Seahawks in a Super Bowl rematch to open the regular season on Wednesday night. They also lost arguably their best player, wide receiver A.J. Brown.
According to multiple reports, the Patriots now have an idea of how long Brown will be out with a high ankle sprain.
“Patriots WR AJ Brown is expected to be out at least 4 weeks following his high-ankle sprain last night,” NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport wrote on his official X account on Thursday night.
“Sources: The internal belief with the Patriots is star WR A.J. Brown could miss 3-6 weeks with his ankle injury,” NFL insider Jordan Schultz wrote on his official X account. “There’s discussions on if a short-term IR stint will be required. Discussions will continue on how to proceed.”
Brown, a 3-time NFL All-Pro, was traded from the Philadelphia Eagles to the Patriots in exchange for a 2028 1st-round pick on June 1.
“The high ankle sprain is a lot worse; there are situations where a broken ankle is a lot better than a high-ankle sprain,” ESPN NFL analyst, former NFL wide receiver, and Academy Award winner Andrew Hawkins said on Thursday morning.
Figuring Out A.J. Brown’s Recovery Time
There are essentially 3 different levels of severity when it comes to high ankle sprains — for Brown, that means an MRI will determine how bad things are right now.
For a Grade 1 sprain, the projected recovery time is 1-3 weeks before the ankle can be pushed for high-impact activity.
For a Grade 2 sprain, the recovery time is 3-8 weeks, indicates a partial tear in the tendon, and requires a walking boot, which Brown was seen in after Wednesday night’s game.
The worst-case scenario is a Grade 3 high ankle sprain, which means a complete tear or rupture and would require 3 to 6 months of recovery — essentially ending Brown’s season.
Cowboys Star Could Provide Clues on Recovery
The video of Brown’s injury looked eerily similar to the high-ankle sprain suffered by Dallas Cowboys star wide receiver CeeDee Lamb in Week 4 of the 2025 regular season.
Lamb’s injury sidelined him for the next 3 games.
“A.J. Brown Right high-ankle sprain, no fracture,” Dr. Jesse Morse wrote on his official X account on Thursday morning. “MRI later today to confirm severity. Grade 1: Out 1-2 weeks. Grade 2: Out 3-6 weeks. Grade 3: Out 6-8 weeks (unlikely). Best-case scenario: he ONLY misses Week 2 and returns in a limited fashion for Week 3. The energy was distributed through the high (syndesmotic) and medial (deltoid) ligaments. The deltoid ligament was stronger and held up; the high-ankle wasn’t. Likely could have been much worse.”
Ex-Eagles WR A.J. Brown Out 3-6 Weeks With High Ankle Sprain: Report