FOXBOROUGH - It didn’t take long for Mike Vrabel to put A.J. Brown in the crosshairs. Try day one, in fact.
On the opening play of 11-on-11, Drake Maye decided to throw to his new top target, even with Christian Gonzalez in his hip pocket. As he’s done his entire career, Brown was able to create enough space to get the ball away from his body. However, his attempt at a one-handed catch failed, the ball falling off his hand and to the turf. That made the lowlight reel.
“He expects me to make that play, and so do I,” Brown said. “I did the hard part, and I caught it away from my body; I just have to bring it in with my other hand.
“Vrabes doesn’t care about style points and I don’t, either. Maybe he thought I was just trying to get the crowd going or something. But it’s Vrabes. You take everything with a grain of salt, listen to him, and just make the catch.”
As we know, Brown is a favorite of Vrabel’s. The two have both talked about their off-field relationship continuing long after parting ways in Tennessee (trade to Philadelphia). But the investment goes beyond that. The Pats surrendered real draft capital for a player who’s about to be 29 years old. Not ancient, but generally speaking for a player at this position, much closer to the end than the beginning. Perhaps that’s why Vrabel went on the attack Monday morning when asked about Brown’s headline-making knee, which has been the subject of much discussion and conjecture.
“I think a lot of things get fabricated, and people tell stories,” Vrabel opined. “We did not ... what other teams think or thought ... we are very confident in where he is at physically. He has done every single thing (thus far.) Will he do every single thing? Nope. He will have time where me, Frank [Piraino], Jim [Whalen], or us as a group decide that, just like Morgan [Moses] yesterday, just like Reggie [Gilliam] yesterday, there will be things. But I think he has gotten off to a really good start, both mentally and physically, and acclimating himself to his team.”
Monday, Brown dismissed the talk about the knee, saying he didn’t pay attention to what was said or written. He did, however, address it in the spring, as did Eliot Wolf, who admitted the knee is a “factor” that “has some wear and tear that we were aware of.” That said, the medical/training staff signed off on it, and now Brown is fully immersing himself in his new environment, saying he’s got about “90 percent” of the playbook down.
“I’m in a pretty good spot,” Brown said. “It’s just really about executing and being on the same page with Drake each and every day. I’m really comfortable.”
That comfort grew as Brown was part of a contingent of Pats’ pass-catchers who went to North Carolina to see Maye for three days between the end of mini-camp and the start of training camp. The weather wasn’t good, and some of the participants were a little too loud at Brown’s bedtime (he said 9:30 PM sharp), but he came away even more impressed with his young signal-caller.
“He does a great job,” Brown said of Maye. “He comes to work. He's prepared and he's a true professional. He can make any throw. So we're excited and we just continue to try to keep getting better.”
MORE DETAILS ON JACAS
We’re learning details about Gabe Jacas’ rookie contract. They back what I’ve been reporting for weeks: that this was more about language in the deal protecting the Patriots against pre-existing injuries — or in this case, injury.
Per source, there is an injury waiver in the deal specifically tied to Jacas’ left knee. That waiver voids after the 2028 campaign. This is uncommon. Some would even say rare. It speaks loudly about the delay in getting Jacas in the fold.
It also continues to raise questions about whether his offseason surgery/timing of it was agreed upon with the team, or if the medical staff missed something in the pre-draft evaluation. I can tell you on the latter that all my information leads me to believe that was not the case. I followed up with Vrabel about the contract, asking him if the club was aware of the knee issue at the time of Jacas’ selection.
“I think the one thing is I am not going to talk about specific contracts or the details with the contract,” he responded. “The most important thing is that Gabe is here, that we are all on the same page and that we are excited to move forward with Gabe.
“We try to explain to him that again, with everything in this business, in professional sports, we have talked about that there is a professional side and there is a personal side. He had to deal with the professional side much earlier than some other players in their careers. So, we have maintained a personal relationship, and Smitty [Mike Smith] did the same thing as his position coach. He, by all accounts, has been working hard and is ready to go, and we will evaluate that here over the next couple of days and be able to acclimate him as quickly as possible.”
From a coaching staff perspective, I would characterize their feeling as one of frustration that they did not get to work with Jacas either in the classroom or on the grass this spring (and the surgery may have prevented the latter anyway). You could certainly detect some irritation from Vrabel in how he talked about the situation this spring, likely an effort to put pressure on Jacas’ representatives. Still, away from the microphone, the head coach worked on building a relationship with the player.
“There are things that everybody can control and there are things that you cannot,” Vrabel said. “When they are here, I am going to coach him, I am going to get to know him, and I am going to do everything that I can to push him, help him and try to get him acclimated as quickly as possible. These are all things that we have to deal with as coaches at this level. When they are here, it is our job to get them ready and help them improve.”
The Pats didn’t trade three picks to move up in the second round to put Jacas in mothballs for the year. If the player’s mind and body are ready, they will push him hard to be in the mix as soon as he shows them he can handle his myriad of duties.
CONFESSIONS OF A YOUNG PLAYER
Dre’Mont Jones hyped up Bradyn Swinson yesterday, saying he could “be a killer in this league.” There’s no real NFL tape that would reveal that during Swinson’s brief time on the active roster in 2025-26, but there were necessary lessons learned by the former LSU star during a rookie year that began with disappointment - he fell to round 5 and then was cut, failing to make the 53-man roster.
“It was a real eye-opener, but honestly, I needed it just to understand the business side,” Swinson admitted. “I came in not really focused, not really taking it serious, and that … whole time when I was just on the practice squad for 13 weeks straight, it just helped me overall. Just learn myself and also learn the game of football all over again. So, I've been at the bottom before, and you know, that's never been nothing new to me, and working hard never been new for me. So that's all I have to do.”
Swinson dropped 17 pounds (he’s now 255) by cutting out snacking. He loved fruit-rollups and Gushers — candy in general. Now?
“I started eating plantains. I never thought I’d eat plantains,” he said. “I started eating more vegetables, laying off the fast food and stuff like that. You have to sacrifice if you want to be great in this league.”
It remains to be seen if Swinson has changed the trajectory of his career, but based on what’s been said about him this offseason, and the way he looks, he’s given himself a better chance at success than whatever the approach was a season ago.
MANAGING MOSES
After having a lighter day on Sunday, Morgan Moses was back to being a full participant Monday. Or as much as you can be a full participant in a walkthrough.
Heading into year 13, it makes sense for the Pats to manage their right tackle. A year ago, it worked to the tune of a full 17-game regular season and the four playoff games as well. As Vrabel has told us, they’ll be monitoring the veteran’s workload again this year, and Moses has no problem with that.
“That's the unique challenge because we're the one position on a team that doesn't get a break, right?” Moses said. “It's not like we're in a two-minute drill and say ‘hey, coach, take me out,’ you know?
“Having a coach that's been through it and in multiple facets as a coach, a player, and just leaning on him and, you know, just knowing sometimes you can get to yourself and be like, ‘man, this is nerve-wracking,’ but understanding that the plan is bigger than yourself, and what he has for you is gonna pan out.”
Moses hadn’t played a full season since 2022, his first year with the Ravens.