FOXBORO — The Patriots know they picked up a rare, game-changing weapon in the form of A.J. Brown this week. How rare?
Even offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels, who has coached a number of “No. 1” receivers in his career, had a hard time comparing him to anyone he’s worked with in the past.
“This is a big man,” McDaniels said just ahead of Brown’s first OTA practice with his new team. “Randy [Moss] was tall, certainly, and fast and all the rest of it. I think they’re all a little different. I say ‘they,’ meaning I’ve been fortunate to have the chance to be around some really good ones.
“Not sure I’ve been around one just like [Brown]. Maybe the closest thing I’ve seen is [Rob Gronkowski]. This is a big guy. Does a lot of things well. Looking forward to seeing how we can acclimate him and fit him into our system.”
Brown’s physical stature doesn’t exactly align with that of Gronkowski, a behemoth tight end who measured at 6-foot-6, 265 pounds. But the strength with which Brown plays his position, not to mention his ability to violently attack the football when it’s in his area, are reminiscent of some of the most powerful pass catchers in recent NFL history.
A new ‘man-to-man beater’ in New England
Brown is listed at 6-foot-1, 226 pounds and played even bigger than that when he was at his most dominant in Philadelphia. And his game is different from those of bigger-bodied wideouts like Davante Adams and Brandon Marshall, with whom McDaniels has worked in the past.
Brown racked up four straight 1,000-yard seasons with the Eagles as a man-to-man beater who often played the role of the “X.” That placed him on the line of scrimmage, on the weak side of the formation, allowing him to work out on an island against corners who often couldn’t physically measure up.
“Big and physical,” McDaniels said when describing Brown’s skill set. “Aggressive. Explosive. He has really good hands. He’s just a competitive guy, and there’s a force to the way he plays the game. Looking forward to getting used to the things he can do that I don’t know about. I’m sure there’s many of those.
“I’ve had an opportunity to have a few different receivers come into our system at times, and you’ve heard about them, you’ve seen them, you’ve watched them play on tape, but then to actually get them on the grass and watch them do different things, it just brings the picture to life.”
Starting on the outside
Where will Brown be aligned, and how will he be used as a featured member of the Patriots offense as the picture starts to come to life in Foxboro?
Mike Vrabel provided a hint Tuesday as to how it will go in the early stages of Brown’s onboarding process.
“I think all the guys right now are going to learn a lot of the different positions,” Vrabel said. “I think the ones that have been here — that’s how [receivers coach] Todd [Downing]’s tried to install the offense, is to know what each player has on each concept and learn it that way. I would imagine that A.J. would do the same, and give guys the ability to line inside, Kyle [Williams], or align outside and use Romeo [Doubs] inside.
“Right now, [Brown] is going to have to learn one position, and I would imagine that’s going to be outside. But as that grows, I know that will be across the board. I think that’s hopefully something that he’s looking forward to do. But you have to learn one before you can learn them all.”
Brown played on the outside in the few snaps he was given for the Patriots during competitive 11-on-11 periods in Tuesday’s practice. He caught his first target from quarterback Drake Maye on a hitch while working in 1-on-1 coverage along the sideline. Simple pitch and catch.
Those are the easy yards that could be available to the Patriots with Brown working outside the numbers against defensive backs willing to give him ground. But there should be explosive gains to be had with Brown working outside as well.
Adding a vertical dimension
On deep passes last season in Philadelphia — meaning targets that traveled 20 yards down the field or more — Brown caught nine of 25 targets for 285 yards (31.7 yards per catch) and four touchdowns.
He averaged similar numbers in 2024 (nine catches, 332 yards, four touchdowns) and 2023 (10 catches, 342 yards and three scores). In 2022, he racked up 594 yards and eight touchdowns on deep throws.
While it may be expecting too much of Brown to see his stat line balloon back to those levels on those types of passes, he will be working with one of the best deep-ball throwers in the league from last season in Maye, who ranked first in the NFL in passer rating (132.7), third in passing yards (1,050) and fifth in passing touchdowns (12) on deep attempts.
As a result of that pairing, perhaps Brown’s production deep down the field will tick up.
McDaniels noted that while he can’t guarantee a number when it comes to targets down the field this season, he anticipates making sure the offense does what it can to get the most out of New England’s expensive new acquisition.
“If you get guys like this that have a history of being super productive, I think it’s just our job to make sure that they’re involved significantly in what we’re doing,” McDaniels said. “Does it mean we can guarantee the ball goes to them on a certain amount of plays? Not necessarily. But I think that’ll all happen and shake out over time.
“… I remember our first OTA with Randy, I don’t think we could complete a pass, honest to God, at that time. It’s a process. Hopefully, if we’re doing our job the right way, and I have a great deal of faith and trust in our stuff, we’ll figure out what spots to put him in and then call those things that our guys do the best and then let Drake make the decision about where the ball goes.”
On the move?
While Brown will begin as an outside option for Maye, there’s a chance he works inside, too, as Vrabel explained.
Brown played 29 percent of his snaps there in 2022 and has hovered around the 20 percent of his snaps coming from the slot for several years, according to Pro Football Focus. That could allow Kyle Williams (who focused on the “X” role as a rookie) or others to get some work outside if Brown is aligned tighter to Patriots formations.
Moving Brown around — as McDaniels did at times with both Marshall in Denver and Adams in Las Vegas — and getting him in the slot also could conceivably help create mismatches, which is one of the reasons why Downing and the Patriots’ staff like to have their wideouts learn all receiver roles in this Patriots scheme.
“I try to teach all the players all the positions so that we can move them around based on matchups in the gameplan, wherever Josh wants them to be, wherever we think we might be able to create a mismatch,” Downing said.
“I think that’s going to play itself out… A.J. certainly has the skill set to play multiple positions so we’ll see how that shakes out over the next couple of months.”
Some of this could come down to trial and error. There is going to be a period of learning, both for Brown and for his coaches, as they get a feel for one another and figure out how he is best deployed.
But it’s an acclimation process that will have time to breathe in OTAs, minicamp and training camp. And if all goes well, come the fall, one of the most dangerous passing attacks in football should reside in New England.
“Our system has always been the same,” McDaniels said. “Get the players, find out what they do best, and then try to figure out how to fit what we’re doing around the players. That’s the most important thing…
“I think one of the things about acquiring veteran players like this is you get to sit down and ask them how they see the game. What are they good at? They’ve done a lot of things that maybe I haven’t done, or called, or coached.
“I’ve done that with players before. I look forward to doing that with A.J.”
