A.J. Brown Expected To Be Out For 4-6 Weeks After Being Placed On IR

New England Patriots wide receiver A.J. Brown was placed on IR after his short cameo in the season opener against the Seattle Seahawks after joining the reigning AFC champions this offseason.

The New England Patriots are placing wide receiver Brown on injured reserve due to his high ankle sprain, sidelining him for at least four games. 

Brown left the game in the third quarter after a pass from quarterback Drake Maye in tight coverage. Seahawks cornerback Nehemiah Pritchett contested the pass where his right knee appeared to land on Brown’s ankle. After the play, Brown grabbed for the back of his right leg as he slowly walked to the sideline and entered the medical tent.

Brown would walk to the locker room after an extended period in the medical tent.  Brown is believed to have suffered a high ankle sprain, sources told NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport and Mike Garafolo.  

Patriots coach Mike Vrabel on Thursday wouldn’t confirm whether Brown has a high ankle sprain but said the team was running more tests on his injury.

“I don’t know if he’ll be available going forward here for the next week, but we’ll see,” Vrabel said. “I know he’ll 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.” 

Brown wasn’t put on IR until Friday, after X-rays revealed that there were no fractures.

Patriots offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels appeared on sports radio WEEI on Thursday talking about Brown’s injury and how the team will overcome this hurdle.

“Any injury that you get at this time of the season, you kind of approach it with an all-hands-on-deck approach,”  “We got a lot of different skill guys that can do a lot of different things. There isn’t one person on the roster that can replace anybody like A.J. in the middle of a game or a stretch of a season. So we’ll band together and figure out what we can do well and then try to get guys in positions to play to their strengths.” 

Brown joined the Patriots and reunited with Vrabel after the Patriots sent a 2028 first-round pick and a 2027 fifth-round pick to the Philadelphia Eagles.

During his first game as a Patriot, Brown played a role in the Patriots’ first touchdown drive, where he drew a defensive pass interference penalty after an underthrown deep ball from Maye.

Brown will miss at least 4 games and is expected to be on the sidelines for 3-6 weeks. The Patriots face off against the Pittsburgh Steelers at home for their Week 2 game.