A.J. Brown’s Patriots debut was cut short when he suffered an ankle injury early in the third quarter of the team’s season-opening loss in Seattle. Now, he’s due to miss out on the next month of action as he recovers from a high ankle sprain.
Multiple reports on Thursday night indicated that Brown is set to miss some time, with NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport reporting that Brown will miss “at least” the next four weeks and Jordan Schultz reporting that Brown will be out three to six weeks.
“A.J. Brown, expected to be out at least four weeks. High ankle sprains are generally four to six. It depends how he is healing,” Rapoport said. “But the Patriots moving forward are not going to have their star receiver for the near future.”
Schultz added that the Patriots are considering an IR placement for Brown, which would require him to miss the next four games.
Brown caught three passes for 26 yards and drew a pass interference penalty to set up the Patriots’ lone touchdown in Wednesday’s 13-10 loss.
The Patriots are set to play in Week 2 at home against the Steelers, on the road in Jacksonville in Week 3 and Buffalo in Week 4, before returning home to face the Raiders in Week 5. The Patriots’ Week 6 home matchup with the Jets on Oct. 18 will be played a little more than five weeks after Brown suffered the injury. The Patriots will have a short week after that, traveling to Chicago for a Thursday night game in Week 7.
Earlier on Thursday, Patriots head coach Mike Vrabel was asked for details on Brown’s injury status.
“We will continue to evaluate, continue to get tests run,” Vrabel said. “I know he will do everything that he can to get back as quickly as possible, and once we get the reports, then we’ll figure out what the treatment plan is.”
The 29-year-old Brown missed four games in 2024 — thre due to a hamstring injury early in the year, one for a knee injury in January — and missed one game last year in late October due to a hamstring issue. He played in all 17 games in both 2022 and 2023, after missing four games in 2021 (one due to hamstring injury, three for a chest injury).
