The New England Patriots’ offensive line turned in maybe their most impressive performance of the season on Sunday, holding the Cleveland Browns’ fearsome front seven to just two sacks and a handful of pressures.
A big reason for the group’s dominant showing? That would be the return of Trent Brown, who saw his first action since the first quarter of Week 1.
The towering right tackle had spent the previous eight games on the sidelines with a calf injury. That led to speculation of whether Brown would be eased back into things, but he played close to 70% of the snaps and amazingly didn’t skip a beat.
Returning to the lineup was a big milestone for Brown. At this point in his career, the 28-year-old isn’t taking any games for granted.
The reason behind that? Brown revealed on Tuesday that he pondered walking away from the game last year after an accident with a pre-game IV before a clash against the Browns landed him in a Cleveland hospital and nearly took his life.
Brown’s description of his near-death experience is troubling to say the least.
Patriots OT Trent Brown said last year he almost died when an IV mishap caused air to enter his bloodstream prior to the Raiders' game against the Browns. He said it took him almost eight months to feel right again and he considered retiring.
— Matthew Fairburn (@MatthewFairburn) November 16, 2021
Patriots OL Trent Brown almost died after a pregame IV issue last year.
That’s horrifying.
Brown’s weekly pregame routine, among stretching and last-minute pointers from Bill Belichick, includes receiving fluids through an IV. During this freak accident, an air bubble breached Brown’s bloodstream. Before he knew it, he was hung up in a Cleveland hospital, where he passed out and went into cardiac arrest.
The former seventh-round pick was hospitalized for a three-day span beginning on Nov. 1. He had just been activated from the COVID-19/reserve list
Here’s how Brown recalled the experience.
"“To kind of come back and play against the Browns, I thought was pretty cool, because I almost died before we played them last year,” Brown said. “When I was laid out on the floor, I definitely thought about my kids. I even thought about retiring, honestly. It was that scary. I was about to be done with it. Then after it kind of settled down a bit, I was fine.”“To actually fully recover, it probably took about eight months to feel normal again. To actually start making steps as far as improvement to feel like myself again on the field.”"
Patriots OT Trent Brown says pregame IV mishap from last season, when he was playing for the Raiders, almost killed him. https://t.co/RHrDPQK93u
— ProFootballTalk (@ProFootballTalk) November 17, 2021
If our math is correct, that means Brown, who was traded to the Patriots at the start of the offseason in March, didn’t get back to peak physical condition until training camp got going.
It really sends chills down your spine just thinking about it.
Luckily for Brown — and the Patriots — he’s back to full strength and is fresh off finishing as the team’s highest-graded run blocker against the Browns, according to Pro Football Focus.
Ever notice that Brown is extremely out of breath at the end of drives? That’s because he gives maximum energy on every snap.
Hard to fault him for that, because at this time last year, he didn’t know if he’d ever step foot on an NFL field again, let alone be here to tell the story.
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