A.J. Brown’s first season with the New England Patriots has been defined by stops and starts, and now there’s at least a little momentum toward a return.
On Saturday, Tom Pelissero reported that New England is encouraged by where Brown stands after the latest setback. “Playing two games in five days may have triggered the latest episode, but New England is optimistic he’ll be back sooner rather than later, perhaps after the Week 11 bye,” Pelissero wrote on his Substack newsletter.
That would be a welcome development for a player who has already spent much of the year on the sideline. Brown missed four games on injured reserve after suffering a high-ankle sprain in Week 1, then returned in Week 6 against the New York Jets before the knee issue surfaced again. He has not played since Week 7.
The Patriots brought Brown back off IR for that Week 6 win over the Jets, but the production was modest: three catches on 10 targets for 27 yards. Four days later, he was back on the field in Chicago for Thursday Night Football against the Bears, and that quick turnaround may have come at a cost. Brown had another three receptions, this time on six targets for 48 yards, but he hasn’t suited up since.
His preexisting degenerative knee condition flared in that game, which forced him out of Week 8 against the Miami Dolphins and ruled him out again in Week 9 against the Green Bay Packers.
If Pelissero’s timeline holds, Brown would sit out one more game - Week 10 against the Detroit Lions - then use the Week 11 bye as a reset before New England heads to Los Angeles to face the Chargers in Week 12 on Nov. 29, three days after Thanksgiving.
That would leave Brown with seven regular-season games remaining if he returns in Week 12, and his stat line would still be a far cry from what the Patriots imagined when they finally acquired him on June 1. Through his first stretch in New England, Brown has only nine catches for 101 yards, six first downs and no touchdowns.
The Patriots have managed to keep winning anyway. They enter Week 9 at 5-3, including a perfect 3-0 mark against division opponents, and Drake Maye has steadied his season despite working with a thin receiving group for much of 2026.
New England has plenty to feel good about. The Brown trade, though, still hasn’t paid off the way anyone hoped - at least not yet.
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Patriots Face A Frightening TreVeyon Henderson Situation With No Clear Timeline
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