New England Patriots
“He’s got a knee that has some wear and tear that we were aware of. Our training staff and medical staff signed off on it.”
A.J. Brown warms up with his Patriots teammates during practice in Foxborough. AP Photo/Charles Krupa
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The Patriots knew that A.J. Brown has a degenerative knee condition before they traded for him, executive vice president of player personnel Eliot Wolf said in a report from Yahoo! Sports on Wednesday.
Brown passed his physical, and the trade became official on Monday. New England sent a 2028 first-round pick and a 2027 fifth-round pick to Philadelphia in exchange for Brown.
“It’s a factor, but we examined him,” Wolf said. “He’s got a knee that has some wear and tear that we were aware of. Our training staff and medical staff signed off on it.”
Brown told reporters during his introductory press conference on Tuesday that he did not feel concerned about his knee.
“No injury. Nothing to worry about,” Brown said. “I think this whole little – you have to understand where I came from, so any conversation about anything is going to come up. Maybe in four years, I’ve missed one game from a shot to the knee, so I’m good, I’m ready to go.”
However, there have been rumblings that Brown’s knee condition may have been a concern for other teams.
“The Rams, they were involved in trade negotiations with the Eagles,” the Philadelphia Inquirer’s Jeff McLane said during a recent appearance on the “Uncovering the Birds” podcast. “And reportedly, and from what I understand, I’ve confirmed that as well, that they had gotten medicals and they weren’t satisfied with what they saw and that’s sort of why they backed out.”
The trade market for Brown appeared to be less robust than it once was. Wolf began calling the Eagles about Brown two years ago and the response was “incredulous” according to the Yahoo! report. When the Patriots tried again this past February, the Eagles were more open.
Brown has never played in less than 13 games in any of his seven NFL regular-seasons. However, the 1,003 receiving yards he gained last year were the second-fewest of his career. His 12.9 yards per catch were a career low. His longest catch last season went for 45 yards, also a career-low.
Brown will turn 29 at the end of this month. He’s a three-time Pro Bowler with six 1,000 yard seasons, and he helped the Eagles win a Super Bowl title in 2024.
Coach Mike Vrabel and several members of his coaching staff know Brown from their time in Tennessee. Vrabel was the Titans head coach for the first three years of Brown’s career.
“Again, when you get to talk about 90 guys or 91 guys, there’s going to be a different plan for every single guy,” Vrabel said when asked about Brown’s knee condition on Tuesday. “And again, I think that looking at the body of work and the availability that he’s been able to have, and whether we have to manage him or anybody else.”
“It’s a long season; there will be things that we’ll have to deal with, and we’ll try to do that accordingly. But just based on looking at his availability in the games that he’s been able to play in and be there for his team, I think that hopefully leads to future availability.”
Khari A. Thompson
Khari Thompson covers professional sports for Boston.com. Before joining the team in 2022, Khari covered college football for The Clarion Ledger in Jackson, Miss.
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