New England Patriots
“He’s just treating everything as a pro, being where he’s supposed to be and working hard to get back.”
FOXBOROUGH — Reinforcements are on the way for the New England Patriots.
Mike Vrabel announced Wednesday afternoon that A.J. Brown is being designated to return from injured reserve—the next step in the star wideout’s eventual return to the gridiron.
Brown — who landed on IR after suffering a high ankle sprain in New England’s season opener against Seattle — took part in practice in Foxborough on Wednesday, with the team officially listing him as a “limited” participant on the injury report.
The Patriots now have 21 days to activate Brown off IR as he begins practice reps, with the 29-year-old receiver potentially set to return as soon as Sunday against the Jets or on Oct. 22 at the Bears for Thursday Night Football.
“He hasn’t been out there for four weeks, so we’ll get him back out there practicing and see if he’s ready to go in a couple days,” Vrabel said of Brown. “And if not, then we have a 21-day window, and we’ll go from there.”
Wednesday was a positive day on the injury front for New England, as Christian Gonzalez (shoulder) and offensive tackle Marcus Bryant (ankle) also returned to practice.
Will Campbell was also a limited participant despite suffering what looked like a severe knee injury in Sunday’s win over the Raiders.
Brown’s eventual return should be a major lift for a Patriots offense that has found its stride over the last two weeks — with Drake Maye recording eight touchdowns and New England posting 74 total points in wins over the Bills and Raiders.
New England’s offense initially took a hit when Brown suffered his injury minutes into the second half of the season opener against the Seahawks.
Brown — who recorded three catches for 26 yards in his debut — didn’t get up from the turf in Seattle after failing to catch a pass from Maye on a short slant route. While Brown was diving for the ball, Seattle cornerback Nehemiah Pritchett’s knee landed right on his ankle.
With the star wideout out of the equation, New England’s final five drives against Seattle only generated only 93 yards on 32 total plays — with three of those five drives ending in brutal interceptions from Maye.
But Maye and the Patriots offense have rebounded since that rocky start, with depth players like Efton Chism III, DeMario Douglas, and Kyle Williams making the most of extra snaps with players like Brown and Mack Hollins on the mend.
Given that the Patriots’ offense has seemingly turned a corner, the team could opt to hold out Brown from Sunday’s game against the Jets.
By holding out Brown from Week 6 action, the Patriots can give him some time to log a few more practices and get his feet under him, with that Thursday Night Football bout against the Bears standing as a more favorable return to game action.
For now, Vrabel isn’t setting a definite timeline for when Brown will return to the field for New England in a true game setting.
“We’ll just focus on this week and see if guys are ready to go,” Vrabel said of how New England will handle a compressed schedule over the next week. “We obviously know we have a shortened week next week. It can’t impact our decisions to try to do everything we can to win this week. Then we’ll figure out where we are after that.”
Brown might be slightly ahead of schedule, as he was initially expected to miss 4-6 weeks with his high ankle sprain.
“I think he’s stayed engaged,” Vrabel said. “I think it’s difficult sometimes to stay engaged. I think his routine was really good, his ability to be around guys in the meetings and then also focus on his rehab. He’s just treating everything as a pro, being where he’s supposed to be and working hard to get back.”
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