The New England Patriots acquired A.J. Brown and Romeo Doubs in the offseason as shiny new weapons for Drake Maye. Both wideouts had nightmare debuts during Wednesday’s season opener in Seattle.
Brown’s night ended early due to a high ankle sprain he suffered in the third quarter. He caught all three of his targets for 26 yards before the injury, including a 14-yard grab.
Doubs’ forgettable debut was entirely performance-related. The former Green Bay Packer didn’t catch any of his three targets, and two of those targets turned disastrous for New England.
On Doubs’ first target of the night early in the fourth quarter, Maye threw Doubs a jump ball downfield that was tipped into the arms of Seahawks cornerback Nehemiah Pritchett:
Doubs’ contested-catch ability is part of the reason the Patriots signed him to a four-year, $68 million contract, but the blame for that interception can be placed squarely on Maye. The same cannot be said for Doubs’ second target.
A few minutes later on second-and-14, Maye found a wide-open Doubs crossing the field past the first-down marker. His pass bounced off Doubs’ hands, and on the next play, Maye threw his second interception of the night.
That sequence was the turning point in the Patriots’ 13-10 defeat. Maye was off his game the rest of the way, capping off his lackluster performance with a game-sealing interception in the end zone with 26 seconds left.
After the game, Doubs addressed his dreadful debut.
“I just wasn’t locked in,” he said. “That’s all. I mean, the video speaks for itself. I’ll be better moving forward.”
Doubs admitted he’s still building chemistry with Maye, but he took all the blame for their inability to connect on Wednesday night.
“I just put that on my end,” he said. “I’ll just be able to move forward. That had nothing to do with Drake. That was 150% me, and I’ll be better.”
The Patriots need a productive Doubs and a healthy Brown to have any chance of duplicating their 2025 success. Their roles in the offense became even more critical after New England shipped wideout Kayshon Boutte to the Houston Texans last month.
With Boutte no longer in the picture and Brown expected to miss time, Doubs will be counted on to step up in the coming weeks. He vowed to do exactly that.
“Part of my job as a player is to make this team better,” he said, “and I’ll be better moving forward.”
New England will look to bounce back in its home opener Sunday, Sept. 20, against the Pittsburgh Steelers.
