New England Patriots wide receiver A.J. Brown says his status for Sunday's game against the Jets is "still up in the air." ESPN reported that he said so after returning to practice this week. Pats Pulpit's Brian Hines wrote that Wednesday was Brown's first practice since he suffered a high ankle sprain in Week 1.
Brown spoke Thursday. "It's still up in the air," he said. "Obviously, it's going to be a Coach Vrabel decision to see where I'm at […]" The feed excerpt cuts off there, so we don't have the rest of his answer. Yahoo Sports noted that he has missed the last four games. Pro Football Talk's Josh Alper carried the story under the same headline. None of the excerpts we have include an official injury designation or a practice-participation level, and Wednesday is the only practice day any of them mention.
Brown played one game this season: the Sept. 9 opener at Seattle. He caught 3 of his 4 targets for 26 yards, with a long of 14 and two first downs, and no touchdown. Last season he had 78 catches for 1,003 yards and 7 touchdowns in 15 games, so the opener is the only sample of him in New England's offense this year.
The Patriots are 3-2 and second in the AFC East, with a two-game winning streak. They won 29-26 at Buffalo on Oct. 4 and beat Las Vegas 45-17 on Oct. 11. Both wins came without Brown. Before those two, they lost 35-6 at Jacksonville on Sept. 27. That recent form helps explain why Brown's return is not obviously urgent. It also means the team has stayed afloat without him, though our data doesn't show how his absence shaped any of those results.
| GP | CMP | ATT | CMP% | YDS | AVG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0.0 |
New England hosts the Jets on Sunday, Oct. 18. Brown's availability is likely to come down to how he responds to practice over the rest of the week, and Vrabel will make the call, as Brown himself said.
Sun, Oct 18, 1:00 PM ET
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