Patriots fans got good and bad news on the A.J. Brown injury front.
The good news, per NFL insider Ian Rapoport, is that “X-rays were negative for a fracture,” meaning Brown avoided anything catastrophic during Wednesday night's season-opening loss to the Seattle Seahawks.
The bad news is that Brown could miss multiple games with what Rapoport and NFL Network’s Mike Garafolo are reporting as a high-ankle sprain.
Brown’s injury, coupled with the team’s decision to trade Kayshon Boutte to the Houston Texans ahead of its final preseason game last month, suddenly puts quarterback Drake Maye and the Patriots in a tough spot at wide receiver.
The New England Patriots wide receiver depth chart just became a major concern
Mike Vrabel and the Patriots clearly wanted to do Boutte a solid by trading him to a fellow AFC contender with a better opportunity for playing time. But it didn’t even take one regular-season game for that move to blow up in the team’s face.
Boutte represented insurance for Brown given his prior experience as the team's main "X" receiver. The team will have to get creative going forward as Brown recovers from his injury.
The depth chart is now, in theory, led by Romeo Doubs — but no Patriots fan is feeling good about that right now. Doubs’ Patriots debut was a disaster. Maye targeted him three times, and those throws resulted in zero completions, one interception, and one blatant drop in a big spot midway through the fourth quarter.
Mack Hollins was by far Maye’s most dependable and trusted wideout after Brown left the game. He figures to see an expanded role. As the team’s preferred option in heavy personnel, it’s likely Hollins rarely leaves the field starting with New England’s Week 2 home game against Pittsburgh.
DeMario Douglas should continue as the main slot receiver, but a top three of Doubs, Hollins, and Douglas leaves much to be desired. The Patriots got no production from preseason standout Kyle Williams against Seattle. They flat-out have to find ways to get the speedy second-year wideout involved going forward.
The only other receiver on the Patriots’ depth chart is Efton Chism, who was a healthy inactive on Wednesday.
A trade seems unlikely after the Patriots made their bed this offseason
The Patriots could do the funniest thing and look into reacquiring Boutte. Otherwise, a trade feels extremely unlikely at this stage of the season.
It’s early, and while losing Brown is a crushing blow to the offense, he’ll be back. Fans can and will speculate about trade options, but unless it’s a player like Boutte or Jakobi Meyers who already knows the offense, it doesn’t make sense for the team to explore that route.
The Patriots made their bed. Trading Boutte for special teams safety Jaylen Reed and a future seventh-round draft pick never made sense. The Patriots were already deep at safety.
But what’s done is done. The Patriots will be relying heavily on Doubs, Hollins, and Williams to pick up the slack on the boundary — and Doubs in particular will have to step up.
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