FOXBOROUGH - Since returning from his high-ankle sprain, A.J. Brown hasn’t been the same player we saw this summer. That version went toe-to-toe with the Patriots' best performer in training camp, Christian Gonzalez, and won almost as many as he lost. He did that by using physicality to create separation out of his breaks and relying on a powerful lower half to explode and win at the catch point. This version isn’t doing any of those things. I asked Brown if he was still trying to regain that explosiveness.
“Yeah, sometimes, you know, I see it, and sometimes, I'm pushing through,” he admitted. “But none of that stuff even matters. I'm out here, so I'm going.”
Brown played 49 of 53 snaps against the Bears just a handful of days removed from logging 52 of 68 in his return against the Jets. 84% playing time with that injury seems excessive, but with Romeo Doubs going down two plays into the New York game, and Mack Hollins already on IR, it’s pretty obvious the Pats felt like they had no choice.
“We were down to four guys, so I mean, somebody's got to play in there,” Mike Vrabel said the day after the Jets win. “We like to have our best players available as much as they can be.”
The Pats didn’t elevate any wideouts off the practice squad for Chicago, believing it would be more of a multi-tight end game to begin with. Perhaps they'll keep rolling the dice until Hollins is ready to return, but that felt risky last week, and my thoughts wouldn’t change for Miami.
In the meantime, the focus has to be on getting more production from the player Vrabel and company bet on more than anyone this offseason; Brown has 9 catches on 21 targets in his 10+ quarters of work this season, hasn’t found the end zone, and hasn’t caught a vertical route despite having a few opportunities (the short-armed attempt against the Jets is seared in my brain).
‘I'm year eight,” Brown said of his reacclimation process. “I know I've been out a month, but none of that stuff even matters. I'm gonna continue to say it because I'm in it. I'm in it now, you know? And I gotta go out and compete. I gotta put one together.”
This Dolphins defense sure invites that possibility. They are